Customer Reviews

US Navy A-1 Skyraider Units of the Vietnam War (Combat Aircraft)

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Even at full price, this book is a bargain. Crammed with information, it's written by two of the best possible authors, both with extensive naval aviation credentials. Zip Rausa is one of only three Osprey authors I know of who has flown the aircraft he writes about (the others being Powell of the Vigilante and Brooke of the Vulcan.)

While the mighty Skyraider became nearly a cult icon, the authors rightly focus on the men rather than the machine. The personal sagas in this book contain dramatic stories of early loss (Richard Sather), happy endings (Dieter Dengler), and many bitter episodes (Joe Dunn and others).

Throughout the text the authors describe the dozens of deployments of all 10 A-1 attack squadrons and detachments from three electronic or early warning units from 1964 to 1969.

As with all Osprey titles, the Skyraider volume is especially strong on illustrations. More than 70 mostly excellent black & white photos are augmented by 19 color plus a generous 30 color aircraft profiles.

After attaining success as an attack aircraft in the Korean War (1950-1953), the AD-1 (later A1) Skyraider at the early 60's was just another piston-engined airplane slated for replacement by new jet models like the A4, A6 and A7 fighter/fighter- bombers. Nevertheless , the Vietnam War (1964-1975) brought her a new span of life with the VA squadrons in the Pacific Fleet. Starting just after the Tonkin Gulf incidents on August 1964, the A1, later driven out of the North Vietnamese skies by the dangerous Sa-2 AA missiles, managed to stay as a ground support machine for the troops engaged in the South against the VC and later found a new role in which excelled: scorting SAR missions. In fact, its propelled driven engine allowed in excess of 5 hours flight time and its huge load carring capability gave the rescue forces protection and guidance in and out of the extraction points, saving numerous aircrew downed in hostile territory.

I very much enjoyed this book, as I have a BIG interest in naval aviation, particularly in the Vietnam War. I think that this is one of the better books in Osprey's aviation series, probably because one of the authors was actually a Navy Skyrader pilot in SEA. So you have someone writing from firsthand experience, instead of just a good wordsmith who had little to do with the events described therein. A must have for any military aviation buff, I give it 10 stars !!!!!!!!!!

Although seemingly an anachronism in the jet age, the Douglas A-1 carved out a memorable combat career in Southeast Asia. Until the North Vietnamese deployed SAMs, Skyraiders were part and parcel of Yankee Station strikes from Day One. Following that, A-1s became an integral part of RESCAP missions, the Spad's formidable armament and great loiter time enabling it to assist in many pick-ups of American shootdowns. Rick Burgess and 'Zip' Rausa provide a comprehensive guide to Navy Skyraiders at war in this 2009 Osprey volume, #77 in their 'Combat Aircraft' series.

Rausa and Burgess do a good job of detailing the strike, armed recce, ECM and RESCAP missions flown by such famous A-1 units like VA-196 'Main Battery,' VA-145 'Swordsmen,' VA-215 'Barn Owls' and VA-25 'Fist of the Fleet.' A number of first-hand accounts by Spad pilots like Cliff Johns, George Carlton, MiG killer Tom Patton, Jerry Tabrum and Gordon Smith enliven the text and really put the reader in the cockpit.

Ninety-two b&w and color photographs along with ten pages of excellent color profiles by Jim Laurier complement the story.

If you are looking for a comprehensive, well-illustrated overview of Navy Spads in action, US NAVY A-1 SKYRAIDER UNITS OF THE VIETNAM WAR is your book. Having said that, I wish Osprey had given Burgess and Rausa a few more pages to relate more sea stories about the colorful aviators who flew the A-1 in harm's way. They were the last of the breed. Recommended.

Designed and built on a carrier-based attack aircraft, the A-1 never saw combat in World War II and eventually was viewed as dated. But it proved its worth during the Korean War and earned a reputation as a craft able to carry any weapon in the naval arsenal. This history comes packed with black and white photos and is a 'must' for any serious military collection.