Customer Reviews

Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle: All-Weather Attack Aircraft

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

 

 

Steve Davies has certainly done more than his fair share of homework for this excellent book. As an ex-military jet pilot, I have a greater than average knowledge of the workings and history of military combat aircraft, yet I was constantly surprised at the level of detail that this book went into.

Luckily the text remained easy to understand, and the reader quickly appreciates the technology available to today's most potent weapons delivery aircrew.

Accounts from a variety of experienced Eagle aircrew constantly verify the Author's statements, and make for a more enjoyable read - sometimes placing the reader right there in the ejection seat. From initial test flights to the latest combat missions in Operation Enduring Freedom, there are 'war stories' worthy of telling in any Officers' Mess Bar.

Whilst the majority of the photographs are in Black and White, there is also a generous Full Colour section with magnificent photographs. For the modellers, there are eight detailed colour plates of Eagle colour schemes.

You would only learn more about the F-15E Strike Eagle by actually joining the USAF - and even then being one of the lucky few.

Alternate title for this book - "Everything You Want to Know About the Strike Eagle, but Were Afraid to Ask".
As an F-15E pilot, I was amazed at the amount of technical detail contained in the book. Davies practically walks you through every system in the aircraft and explains them from the ground up.
Outstanding photography - nearly every page has a photo, some that are absolutely amazing.
My favorite aspect of the book is the stories told by Strike Eagle aircrew interviewed by Davies. Included are some I had heard before and some I had not; combat missions into Iraq in Desert Storm, ONW and OIF, an F-15E air-to-air kill with a laser guided bomb, and a 15.5 hour sortie are just a few to name.
This book is a great read for those who are F-15E fans, but the technical jargon could be a little confusing for the average Joe (though it comes with a full glossary to reference).

Being the best all-round combat aircraft in the world, the F-15E Strike Eagle is a very popular war machine and is a good subject to write on.

Have you already read books on the Strike Eagle and have you already spent hours on the Internet looking for info? If yes, then it's good for you. But if not, then please don't do it! Read this book first!

I myself tried the `yes' variant before, but even after all my research this book surprised me with its richness of info and its level of detail. This kind of stuff is very hard to find even in small pieces, not mentioning to have them all in one place.

It covers the F-15E from every angle possible, giving you history, (lots of) technical details, combat records (and some stories even), details, specs and insight into the Strike Eagle community. Very military style, full with abbreviations, it requires attention. And it's technical, yes, expect deep water.
Nice and well chosen pictures illustrate it (there are lots of them, unfortunately not all of them in color), including special close-ups of parts of the jet (again something you will not find everywhere).

Packed in a neat hard-cover "casing" you will get 200 pages of intense information and feeling, like a jet blast from the twin engine of the Strike Eagle. Deep insight into the trade and very good connections with the Strike Eagle community - that's the feeling I got from it... and the inability to put it down!

So get a copy and see it for yourself. You will be glad that you did.

If your looking for COLOR reference photos of the F-15E Strike Eagle, this would not be my first choice. The entire book, except for a few profile and instrument shots (not many), are Black and White. That being said, the information is VERY useful and well written. The addition of color photos would make this book a 4 or 5 star contender.