Customer Reviews

OKB Sukhoi: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft

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"OKB SUKHOI" is the first comprehensive volume on one of the most famous soviet design bureau. A large part of what was known was based on intelligence database released during the cold war; this work is the first definitive insight of this team: many details are revealed by gathering informations and photographs published in original russian papers; some snapshots are from personal collections of engineers actually involved in bureau development and testing work. In fact many of them are rare examples and they include prototypes and research vehicles, previously unpublished in the west.

The text is accurate and a detailed description of design features, structures and systems is covered by having access to soviet engineering data. In this regard is important to remark that the metric system is a standard russian practice; if the reader is looking for a precise figure in tabular data, she/he must take into account the significant digits while computing own conversions to british system.

Even if its style is different from the western standard in aviation pubblication, this is a much needed book, really helpful to get a clear picture of the hystory of this famous bureau; above all it is a fine tribute of its leader, one of the most gifted genius in soviet aviation industry.

Even though the prior version of this book was impressive, this one exceeds the prior version by a long shot and almost 300 additional pages. With almost 600 well illustrated pages and every version and variant of Sukhoi aircraft detailed via text, photos, and diagrams, there is likely to be no more comprehensive volume on Sukhoi, until another version of this book is released. This book is particularly valuable in detailing all of the various versions of the Su-27/33/35 Flanker and SU-17/22 Fitter. Almost every major and minor variant is illustrated with at least a side view diagram and many have three view diagrams. There are also extensive photos, including many in color. This book sets a new standard for works on Russian aircraft and is an essential volume in a library of modern military aircraft. I recommend this book without reservation.

Interesting book but not as throrough as Gordon & Gunston one on MiGs aircraft, especialy when it comes to detailling TOW, fuel load, Sfc and evolution history on the recent types (i.e. MiG-29 versus Su-27 family). Nevetheless a reference book that should be on everyone interested in aviation bookshelf. But who will come up with an update on the Su-24/32/35/37 family ?

This is an excellent book on OKB Sukhoi and it's aircraft. I own both the earlier 1996 edition and the latest 2010 edition. The 1996 edition is a wonderful book in itself, at about 300 pages it gives somewhat of an overview of most of the aircrafts.

At a hefty 6 pounds 600 pages, the 2010 edition simply blows me away. The amount of detail covered on each aircraft is comparable or even exceeds the average 100 page class monographs in the market. For example, the SU-27 section (the largest section) is about 120 pages, a level of detail that I believe only Gordon's 600 page book on the flanker exceeds.

Every page is packed with detailed descriptions (think letter size paper, 3 columns, 10pt letters with 1/2 inch margin on each side) and photos (black and white, color pictures are all in a section at the end)of every generation and version of aircraft. The texts focus mostly the design history and some technical specs (good enough for an engineer not working in OKB Sukhoi). Typical chapters on each aircraft begin with an introduction to the inception of the aircraft, through prototype and production and ends with a section on the aircraft in action.

What you don't find is material such as charts (of any kind, say flight envelop, design charts etc), maps, cutaway drawings, users and export information and comparison with other aircraft (the 'in action' section for each aircraft gives a somewhat qualitative view but it is hard to get a good picture).

Overall I would highly recommend this book to any enthusiast on general or Russian/Soviet aviation alike. I believe it is a sufficiently beefy reference that it can be a reasonable substitute for the average monographs in the market.

In 1996, Midland came out with the first edition of this book. It was a superb book in its day but the standard of these titles have gone up considerably in the interim. The Mikoyan title had previously been upgraded; the Sukhoi book finally gets its due.

This edition has exactly twice as many (592 vs. 296) pages as the first edition. The book has been completely rewritten. The additional pages have been used to bring the Sukhoi story up to date regarding aircraft that have appeared since and also to include many unbuilt projects. The bottom line is that if you have the first edition of the book it is well worth while to purchase the newer edition.

This book has all the strengths of the previous OKB titles. It also has a number of the weaknesses. The most important are:

1. No index. True, books of this sort are self indexing to some extent but an index would still be very useful.

2. Few maps. Most of the places named are unfamiliar to non Russians. The only maps are reproductions showing 1930s record breaking flights; there are no specially commissioned maps in the book.

3. No glossary or list of abbreviations. This is particularly annoying as the first edition did have one. There are a huge number of abbreviations and it is difficult to keep them all straight. Context is helpful but not entirely satisfactory.

4. The editing is spotty. There are innumerable instances of dropped letters (as instead of was), dropped words, tenses that don't match, hyphenations in mid line, etc. This is only annoying; rarely is meaning lost. But for a book of this price one expects better.

5. The line drawings are of high quality but often reproduced at a size smaller or larger than originally intended. If smaller detail drops out; if larger pixellation and digital artifacts surface.

6. Color is restricted to a 50 page portfolio in the back of the book.

The book was presumably not translated but written in English directly by coauthor Dmitriy Komissarov. His command of English is superb and virtually never hits a false note.

Despite weaknesses this is a five star book that I recommend highly. One wonders what other OKBs will get this treatment. Surely a rotary wing OKB like Mil' and Kamov are deserving? I can hardly wait!

This is the new enlarged version of the 1996 edition of OKB Sukhoi publication by Yefim Gordon and is full of drawings, photos, and discussion. It is undoubtedly the last word (as 0f 2010) on the Sukhoi aircraft and design bureaus. There is an unbelievable amount of information which I admit that I have not completely read - almost 600 pages. It is part of Yefim Gordon's series of publications on aircraft designers and bureaus of the USSR and the CIS. For those of you who remember the Putnam series of books covering aviation manufactures, etc., which are excellent, these appear to be Putnam on steroids. Gordon produces books covering aviation topics that are really unavailable elsewhere in English- and is extending his coverage to Chinese aircraft in one of his other new publications. If you are interested in Russian military and/or aviation, this book will be a valuable addition to your library

When you think of Soviet fighters, most people think of MiG's. This book traces the history & development of the MiG company rival, Sukhoi. With the latest designs the Su-27 and experimental Su-37, Sukhoi is gaining a bit more recognition.

Yefim Gordon gives the reader a bit of background on the key designers, the early planes of the 30's, WW2, jet age, modern fighters, and commercial attempts. Written on high gloss quality paper, there are plenty of B&W photos (if they are sometimes grainy, that's the technology the Russians had back when), line drawings, tons of statistics, data and charts. There are 8 pages of color photos, enough for aviation buffs. Since the photos are all small, this is not the ideal book for a modeler.

The book was published in 1996, so it is not the most current of books on Soviet planes; however, with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992, most of the work on aircraft has been experimental or upgrading existing planes. Gordon has written several subsequent books that cover the Su-27 fighter in more detail. Those are recommended as well.

In summary, this is a must have for true aviation historians who want to see what was being built by the other side. There are a lot of surprises here, a wealth of information.