Mushroom Model Publications produces primarily for the modelling fraternity but in the process produces books that also serve the aviation enthusiast very well. This book turns the spotlight on the F-14 Tomcat with some superb art work– Highly Recommended.
NAME: Spotlight On: Grumman F-14 Tomcat FILE: R2698 AUTHOR: Marcello Ribero PUBLISHER: Stratus Mushroom Model Publications BINDING: hard back PAGES: 41 PRICE: £19.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Missile carrier, fighter, Top Gun, jet fighter, naval aviation, F-4 Phantom, USN, IRIAF, swing wing, variable geometry, dog fight ISBN: 978-8-365958-02-0 IMAGE: B2698.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/y937shor LINKS: DESCRIPTION: Mushroom Model Publications produces primarily for the modelling fraternity but in the process produces books that also serve the aviation enthusiast very well. This book turns the spotlight on the F-14 Tomcat with some superb art work– Highly Recommended. The Tomcat was an important fighter aircraft for the US Navy, following on from the F-4 Phantom. It is perhaps best known from the film “Top Gun” which was set against the USN fighter pilots school that was created to teach dog fighting. The Vietnam War highlighted the deficiencies in naval air combat training where the smoky heavy jets had to fight small nimble MiG-21 fighters and where gun combat and close dog fighting was required. The USN deficiencies were common to other air combat organizations and resulted from the belief that all future combat would be based on air-to-air missiles. This process began early in the jet fighter's evolution and the Royal Navy commissioned the de Havilland Sea Vixen which had originally been designed to meet an RAF All- Weather fighter specification. The RAF specified a four canon armament with 30mm cannon and the ability to carry four infrared guided AA missiles. The spectacular disaster at the Farnborough Air Show, where the DH110 prototype broke up in the air, led to the RAF buying the bulky gun and missile armed Gloucester Javelin, but de Havilland continued development and offered the DH110 to the Fleet Air Arm. In naval use, the Sea Vixen carrier four IR AAMs under wing and could carry a selection of rocket and bomb munitions on hard- points, but the spaces on either side of the front wheel, intended originally for cannon, were used for retractable unguided missile batteries. This all-missile armed all-weather fighter served the Royal Navy well as a carrier aircraft and the unguided missiles were intended to be ripple fired at enemy bomber formations, the radar operator flying the aircraft in the attack phase using radar to aim for the centre of the bomber formation. Other aircraft manufacturers followed this path, deleting guns and using missiles as the main armament. The Tomcat was a twin engine supersonic aircraft using the then popular variable sweep wings to offer an wide range of performance. It was intended primarily as a missile carrier and could carry beyond-visual-horizon missiles, but the use of guns and sweep-wings made it a remarkably good dog fighter in dissimilar combat conditions. This book has 40 specially commissioned colour plan and profile views offering a selection of camouflage, colours and marking. This will make the book a valuable source of information for modellers but will also offer a unique addition to the libraries of aviation enthusiasts. Presentation is outstanding.