Customer Reviews

Grumman F-14 Tomcat: Leading US Navy Fleet Flighter (Aerofax Series)

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

 

 

For a book on the fleet defender that is approaching thirty years of service, a book of 88 pages is certainly insufficient. The author has made a good balance of every aspect of the aircraft to condense the materials in order to fit in the limited space. The result is --- a good book for general readers. Scale modellers may be disappointed for its lack of detail shots of different parts of the Tomcat (supplied in abundance in the old Aerofax series) and its lack of scale plans. Warplane enthusiast may not be satisfied by the black and white photos. However, I must commend on the concise unit hishory the detail written descriptions on the different variants.

Limited by its size, it comes second to the "Grumman F-14 Tomcat--Shipborne superfighter" from Aerospace in depth, number of illustrations and drawings; it gives no match to "Tomcat Alley" of Schiffer Publishing Ltd which offers photographic coverage of each unit that has flown the Cat. However, as a book for general reader and justified by its size, it is readable and informative and worths a place in the collection of even Tomcat-freaks.

This book contains just about every technical detail you would ever want to know about the F-14 Tomcat. The book includes a thorough description of the development of the F-14, a brief history of every Tomcat squadron, and covers every variant including those that were never produced. The avionics systems are described as in no other book. The only downsides are that most of the pictures are in black-and-white and it is told in a 3rd person-type point-of-view. For a more personal hands-on book, get "Tomcat! The Grumman F-14 Story." But for technical facts about the F-14 Tomcat, this book can't be beat.

Granted the book is limited in its scope since it is only 88 pages long but ,typical of the Aerofax books in general, a lot of information is presented in a readable fashion. There are many photos tracing the aircraft's development and service history. Detail shots are provided in abundance, although perhaps not enough to actually build an F-14 for yourself. Overall this is an excellant book on the Tomcat that provides sufficient information for most enthusiasts.

I agree with another reviewer that a book of 88 pages is insufficient to do this airplane justice. But given that was all the publisher seems to have given the author, I think Jenkins did a remarkable job of telling the story. Perhaps now that the Tomcat is being phased out of service the publisher will allow a larger, more complete, book to be written.

This book is half-a-dozen years old and just barely touches on the "bombcat" version since it was just being fielded at the time. But otherwise, it goes into sufficient detail on the technology, variants, and history of the airplane to satisfy most anybody. It makes a good addition to any library.

This is your typical Aerofax book, with lots of good details on the history of the Tomcat and many photos showing almost every detail of the airplane. It is a bit light on the operational history, and is also a bit out of date. Nevertheless, it is a bargain for the money. Highly recommended!