Customer Reviews

The Age of Orion: The Lockheed P-3 Story (Schiffer Military/Aviation History)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aviation enthusiasts have been waiting for many years for somebody to do a comprehensive illustrated book on the Lockheed P3 Orion. Thanks to prolific military book publisher Schiffer, this has finally been done. David Reade's 223 page hardcover does an excellent job of telling the story of the Lockheed P3 Orion from its late 50s origins as a modified Electra passenger airliner to the present day P3C. All major modifications of the Orion and all the countries that fly them are covered, and perhaps this is the only true weakness of the book. It's such a huge story that giving detailed comprehensive coverage to 'rare' variants and foreign operators of relatively few aircraft takes valuable page space away from the standard USN antisubmarine patrol aircraft that this writer knows and loves (I'm a P3 EWO in the US Navy Reserve). I'd have liked to have seen more photos showing standard US Navy VP squadron aircraft with their unique and colorful tail emblems (Ideally a photo of an aircraft from every VP squadron in the US Navy showing all the different tail markings used over the past 35 years or so) and less coverage of the EP3s and 'Domes' and other things but that's just me. Even so, there is no other book on the market like it and if you are interested in the Lockheed P3 Orion you really need to add this book to your library. Now, who's going to do a comprehensive illustrated book on the subject of US Naval Reserve aviation????

In his 223 page work, David Reade has attempted to cover every P-3 variant, including some (very) little-known ones. The result is a marvellous reference work which I give 4 stars only due to its lack of an index and a small number of captioning, typographic, and minor factual errors, which somewhat detract from its utility. I'm looking forward to a 2nd edition, but wouldn't wait for one.

4000+ hr P-3B TACCO/Mission Commander

A friend of mine in the Navy who is now a P3 Navigator loves the book.

A welcome volume on an important, yet unsung, aircraft. Excellent detail on a wide variety of variants. Unfortunately, the book could have benefited from another proofreading for spelling and style. The author should learn the distinction between the Greek "Alpha" and the NATO phonetic "ALFA."