Customer Reviews

F-15 Eagle Engaged: The world's most successful jet fighter (General Aviation)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My first impression of this book was how big and heavy it was, with good overall construction qualities. It starts with a history of jet air combat, and flows into the FX competition that bred the F-15. There are good technical discussions of the cockpit, radar, engines and MSIP. I found the part on the AIM-7 Sparrow's track record interesting and how it affected engagements. The different US operators are covered, and then the 3 foreign users - Saudi Arabia, Israel and Japan. The Israeli section was particularly interesting.

Relevant photos are provided, but it is the personal stories and accounts that really make this book special and different. It gives a behind-the-scenes look at the human element while operating the F-15, especially during scrambles, battles and communications amongst other fighters and AWACS. It is chock full of text (even with footnotes), and is not just another picture book. F-15 images can be found fairly easily, but such detailed text in one publication is rare.

There are a couple very, very minor errors on photo captions, but they do not take anything away from the quality of this book. If you are looking for personal accounts behind the development and history of flying the F-15, this book is a must. It is an outstanding value.

The Boeing F-15 Eagle was unquestionably the world's most capable fighter from the late '70s until the entry into service of the new "3.5-4 generation" aircrafts in the last years, and Steve Davies has done a great job of describing its technologies, development and service with the USAF and other air forces around the world.
Breaking the tradition set by earlier generations of USAF "jack of all trades" jets (primary the F-4 Phantom), the Eagle was designed uncompromisingly to meet the demanding USAF's requirements as a pure air superiority fighter to counter the treat of the new Soviet MiGs, becoming only later a true multimission- strike aircraft with the -E model.
Short of a set of pilots notes and supported by a wealth of superb photography, Steve Davies provides the reader with just about all there is to know about what is justifiably claimed to be the world's most successful jet fighter. I just hope to see more title like this from the Osprey Publishing in the future.

This is a great book. I was a member of the 493rd Fighter Squadron when Steve Davies took some of the pictures for this, including the cover photo. He is definitely devoted to doing justice to the Eagle. And as was mentioned before, this is much more than just a book full of good pictures. Thanks go to the authors for this book about the WGASF.

Eagle Engaged is the definitive book on F15A-D versions of this awesome warbird. The text and photos are first rate. Both author extensive knowledge on F15 developement and service history is shown in many detail found in this book! A must have book if you interested in F15. A proud owner of this book.

I love the subject. I've read already Osprey's F-15C Eagle Units in combat which is a 5 star title. And from what I've seen from this "Eagle engaged", there's a lot of word for word copy from the Osprey title. So not much added value.
Finally, good book, particularly if the reader is new on the F-15 kills subject, but not being a newcomer, i'm a bit disappointed.

One previous reviewer commented on the lack of "love" for the Mud Hen. To be fair, while the Mud Hen is most definately part of the Eagle family, it is not the aircraft that made the F-15 famous.

This book is the book that you give either the lover of the F-15, for the stories and photos..or the novice who needs a good "do all" book on the Eagle.

Being blessed with living in a state with two F-15 units, I see them often enough, but this book doesnt do the F-15 justice!

My son who is 13 yrs old loves this book and so do his friends. Beautiful pics but very heavy book.

This is the best book I have seen on the mighty F-15 Eagle. I "must have" for any fighter aircraft enthusiast.

This compilation blends the origins of this great fighter with the current twilight of its career. Without question, as far as "iron on the ramp" goes, this airplane still reigns supreme as the premier air-to-air fighter in the world. This book is a catalog of its journey to be just that.

F-15 EAGLE ENGAGED: THE WORLD'S MOST SUCCESSFUL FIGHTER
STEVE DAVIES AND DOUG DILDY
OSPREY PUBLISHING, 2008
HARDCOVER, $35.00, 292 PAGES, PHOTOGRAPHS, APPENDICES, ABBREVIATIONS, ACRONYMS


During the mid-1960s, U.S. Air Force intelligence was shocked to find that the Soviet Union was building a large fighter aircraft, known as the MiG-25 "Foxbat". It wasn't known in the West at the time that the MiG-25 was designed as a high-speed interceptor, not an air superiority fighter; as such, its primary asset was speed, not maneuverability. The MiG-25's huge tail planes and fins hinted at a very maneuverable aircraft, which worried the U.S. Air Force that its performance might be higher than its American counterparts. In reality, the MiG-25's large stabilizer and stabilators were necessary to prevent the aircraft from encountering inertia coupiling in high-speed, high-altitude flight.

The F-4 Phantom II of the U.S. Air Force and Navy was the only fighter with enough power, range, and maneuverability to be given the primary task of dealing with the threat of Soviet fighters while flying with visual engagement rules. As a matter of policy, the Phantom IIs couldn't engage targets without positive visual identification, so they couldn't engage targets at long ranges as designed. Medium-range AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, and to a lesser degree even the AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, were often unreliable and ineffective at close ranges where it was found that guns were often the only efective weapon.

The Phantom II didn't originally have a gun, as it was intended that only missiles would be used to engage slowly moving and maneuvering Warsaw Pact bombers and fighters at longer ranges. Experience during the Vietnam War showed this not to be the case and led to the addition of a gun. At first, an external gun pod was tried but that proved inaccurate and increased drag. Later, the 20mm M61 Vulcan was integrated internally on the F-4E.

There was a clear need for a new fighter that overcame the close-range limitation of the Phantom II while retaining long-range air superiority. After rejecting the U.S. Navy VFX Program (which led to the F-14 Tomcat) as being unsuited to its needs, the U.S. Air Force issued its own requirements for the Fighter Experimental (F-X), a specification for a relatively lightweight air superiority fighter. Four companies submitted proposals, with the U.S. Air Force eliminating General Dynamics and selecting Fairchild Republic, North American Rockwell, and McDonnell Douglas for the definition phase in December, 1968. The U.S. Air Force announced the selection of McDonnell Douglas on 23 December 1969. The winning design resembled the twin-tailed F-14, but with fixed wings. It wouldn't be significantly lighter or smaller than the F-4 Phantom II that it would replace.

The Eagle's initial versions were designated F-15A for the single-seat configuration and F-15B for the twin-seat. These versions would be powered by new Pratt & Whitney F100 engines to achieve a combat thrust-to-weight ratio in excess of 1 to 1. A proposed 25mm Ford-Philco GAU-7 cannonmwith caseless ammunition was dropped in favor of the standard M61 Vulcan gun due to development problems. The F-15 retained conformal carriage of four Sparrow missiles like the Phantom II. The fixed wing was put onto a flat, wide fuselage that also provided an effective lifting surface. Some questioned if the zoom performance of the F-15 with Sparrow missiles was enough to deal with the new threat of the high-flying MiG-25 "Foxbat"; its capability would eventually be demonstrated in combat.

The first F-15A flight was made in July, 1972 with the first flight of the two-seat F-15B (formerly TF-15A) following in July, 1973. The F-15 has a "look-down/shoot-down" radar that can distinguish low-flying moving targets from ground clutter. The F-15 would use computer technology with new controls and displays to lower pilot workload and require only one pilot to save weight. Unlike the F-14 or F-4, the F-15 has only a single canopy frame with clear vision forward. The U.S. Air Force introduced the F-15 as "the first dedicated air superiority fighter since the F-86 Sabre."

The F-15 would be favored by customers such as Israel and Japan and the development of the F-15E Strike Eagle would produce a strike fighter that would replace the F-111. However, criticism from the fighter mafia that the F-15 was too large to be a dedicated dogfighter, and too expensive to procure in large numbers to replace the F-4 and A-7, led to the Light Weight Fighter (LWF) Program, which led to the U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon and the middle-weight U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet.

The single-seat F-15C and two-seat F-15D models entered production in 1978 with the models' first flights in February and June of that year. These new models have Production Eagle Package (PEP 2000) improvements, including 2,000 pounds of additional internal fuel, provision for carrying exterior conformal fuel tanks and increased maximum takeoff weight of up to 68,000 pounds.

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and F-15 pilot, Doug Dildy and aviation expert, Steve Davies, have combined to pen the most comprehensive book ever published on the F-15 Eagle. Since the capping of the F-22 Raptor in 2010, the U.S. Air Force has been cutting back its Eagle squadrons. Because of this, both authors were able to obtain unequalled access to formerly classified technical specifications of this outstanding fighter. F-!5 EAGLE ENGAGED: THE WORLD'S MOST SUCCESSFUL JET FIGHTER is the definitive resource for anyone interested in the F-15 Eagle.



Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida