Customer Reviews

The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft (General Aviation)

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This book is a must-have for all people interested in aviation of our "coldwar-eastern enemy". The often different approach of russian designers to aircraft design gave us some very surprising en extotic aircraft types. Much more than in the west, soviet aircraft were being designed and built for an operational purpose. The result often was an aircraft, very rugged and suited to it's operational requirements but often lacking in economic operations. Solutions were solutions, no mather how expensive or uneconomical. Off course some of the soviet aircraft are still unrivalled in their class. The IL76 is still one off the most rugged heavy transports and if you look at the technical propulsion system of the Lockheed X-35 S/VTOL demonstrator, one can see that it is directly derived from the YAK141 prototype. The russian designers often were much more practical in approach and with limited resources they achieved very much. This book contains them all. From the early "kites" till Ekranoplans! The definitive work on this subject!

Many books tout, "new information never before seen from the Soviet archives", but few really deliver anything substantial. Mr Gunston though, has achieved what many historians hoped would happen with former Iron Curtain material coming to light: a truly enlightening book. Many of the details of the Soviet design bureaus, let alone some of the experimental aircraft have never had their stories told before. The depth of this work exceeds anything I've seen in the West, or Russia. The listings of aircraft before 1917 are almost worth the price alone. However, the prose is terse to say the least, one would have thought an additional few pages could have been spared for descriptions/tech data. Also, some of the comments are, well if not quite from the sales brochure, they're close. Mr Gunston has a reputation for taking manufacturer data at face value. Certainly his comments on the MiG21 and 29 don't give the reader the full story of real combat limitations of these otherwise fine designs.
That said though, this an encyclopedia no aviation enthusiast, or Russian historian should be without. Well worth the money.

The best Russian aviation book out there...it has it all.
They have added just about evry variation and every modification to every airplane the russians ever thought of.

I bought this book when it came out (hardcover) back in 1998 or 2000 - not sure when. It remains *the* resource on the topic. There is no equal. If you are curious about a specific soviet aircraft it is probably in here. The author points out WHY the Soviets designed aircraft the way they did. For example, at the time of Belenko's defection in '76, the American propganda machine made us all laugh at how primitive the Mig-25's use of vacuum tubes was. No one mentioned their resistance to EMP.

Points such as these and others make this book incredibly helpful for those who are curious about the Soviet Union's flight history. A special section in the back for Ekranoplanes is the icing on the cake. I can't recommend enough this amazing work.

This book is an impressive and meticulous look at Soviet Aviation.

PROS:
Extensive, exhaustive and thoroughly detailed (Gunston even covers details such as shape/size of nosewheel hubcaps etc.). Covers literally every single plane/variant/sub-type ever made.

Superb diagrams, images and spec

Ekranoplanes -- amazing information. A must have for Red aviation enthusiasts.

CONS
Too laconic
B/W images only :-(((
Historical information covers only development and engineering.Not enough information about actual performance/strenghts/weaknesses. Information/opinions about performance is sorely lacking.

SUM:
An alternative to Janes...seriously