Customer Reviews

Israeli F-4 Phantom II Aces (Aircraft of the Aces)

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

 

 

Really rare and hard to find data on Israeli Phantom kills, covering every kill (many in details). Many non-seen before photos and exceptional color profiles.
The information that presented in the book is the Israeli look on the Phantom air-to-air combat results. It is not a traditional ace by ace coverage, but more chronological victory by victory account, grouped by squadrons.
There is also a very, very brief biography of ace pilots (not the navigators).
The problem is - the Osprey book format (96pp), there is so much information, photos and details to be covered, that 96 pages are simply not enough. To compensate this, the photos are shrunk and the text is very compact. I could wish more exceptional photos to be included, as I've seen some in different sources.
Bottom line, I will suggest this book to every aviation enthusiast, who deals with Middle East aviation warfare.

Israeli F-4 Phantom II Aces, by Shlomo Aloni, offers superb combat narratives, photography, and other illustrations of one of the most important warplanes in history. For anyone interested in modern Israeli military history and/or the F-4 in particular, this is a "must have" volume.

However, I would offer two criticisms. One, I would have liked to have seen more technical data/history on the F-4s used by Israel, so as to be able to put their combat use in greater perspective. Along with this, I would have liked to have seen a description of the "Kurnass 2000" upgrade program; this type is mentioned repeatedly, but just what the upgrade consisted of is not described in any detail.

I understand that this volume primarily concerns "combat aces" - i.e., the men who flew the planes and their exploits - rather than the airplane itself. However, while "war stories" are fascinating, it is rare that I have seen comparable histories involving other aircraft that are as devoid of technical treatment of the aircraft in question as this work is.

i got this being interested in the combat history of the phantom and its abilities against soviet fighters,also in wishing to read about how it faired against them when they did not have crippling ROE working against them like in vietnam.I was very very board reading it as its hole text just one sleep inducing jumble of numbers.The decsriptions of the air fights is very brief and usually is SUCH AND SUCH GOT THEIR 3RD MIG KILL ETC ETC.The pictures are good and the plates are acceptable but thats not good enough if the bulk of the text is boring,hence the one star.