USN F-4 Phantom II vs VPAF MiG-17/19: Vietnam 1965-73 (Duel)

It's a great opportunity to discover the origins and history of the most known fighter jet that flew over Vietnam with the most sucessful rol of service.

Anyone interested in Naval Aviation during 'Nam would love this as it recounts the stories of the MiGs vs. Phantoms. I even got a mention in the book as I was Randy Cunningham's first RIO. (this being written by the Amazon members hubby!!!)

Ahh...to be a Phantom driver in the US Navy, circa 1965 - 1973...If you have even the faintest interest in jet fighter combat, you WANT to get this book !The skies above North Vietnam erupted with high octane action the likes of which have not been seen since!

I like it

VERY informative!

The F-4 Phantom II jet fighter was fielded to be the U.S. Navy's main carrier-based fighter of the 1960's. Designed primarily to go after Soviet bombers stalking U.S. carrier battle groups, the F-4 initially proved to be a less than stellar performancer in air combat over North Vietnam. In particular, the missile-armed Phantom II had real problems in dogfights against aging but highly agile MiG-17 and MiG-19 interceptors. The why of that problem and how the Navy fixed it is the subject of this book."USN F-4 Phantom II vs VPAF MiG-17/19" is an Osprey Duel Series book, well authored by Peter Davies, with illustrations by Gareth Hector and Jim Laurier. It traces the development of the three aircraft and their duels in the skies over North Vietnam between 1965 and 1973. The Phantom II initially underperformed in comparison with older U.S. fighters such as the F-8 Crusader. It took a concerted effort by the Navy training community to even the odds. The narrative is written for an aviation-oriented audience, with lots of detail about air-to-air combat. The text is nicely complemented by a terrific collection of photographs and maps, and there are good illustrations of the aircraft types. The analysis at the end is fascinating. Recommended to students of Vietnam War era aviation.

Peter Davies co-authored the two nicely-done USN F-4 MiG killers books for Osprey. In this 2009 Osprey 'Duel' volume, he provides an equally interesting and entertaining examination of the Navy's F-4 and its main North Vietnamese opponent, the MiG-17, and the less successful MiG-19 stablemate.Using the well-established Duel format, Davies relates the design and development of the combatants, technical specs, aircrew training, an overview of the Vietnam War and combats involving Phantoms, Frescoes and/or Farmers along with stats and analysis. Davies' text is illustrated with various b&w and color photographs of USN/VPAF pilots/aircrews and various F-4, MiG-17 and -19 fighters. Additionally, Jim Laurier supplies some excellent color illustrations showing cockpits, armament loads and three-views while Gareth Hector contributes dynamic cover art and air combat scenes.When U.S. aircraft started bombing North Vietnam, experts predicted the F-4, the finest interceptor in the world, would clean the Fresco's clock. After all, the MiG-17 was just an upgraded MiG-15 not to mention the fact that most of its pilots were poorly trained and possessed little mechanical ability. As related in USN F-4 PHANTOM II VS VPAF MIG-17/19, Uncle Ho's MiGs proved a much tougher opponent. Davies explains quite succinctly why the F-4 did so poorly from 1965 to 1968 and how the Navy turned around its MiG-killing record in 1972-73.Air combat fans will want to pick up this latest Duel volume. It lays out the history of Navy/VPAF MiG combats clearly and entertainingly. Recommended.******Two corrections and a "For What It's Worth."*The VF-111 pilot downed on 5 September 1966 was Will Abbott not Keese.*Ev Southwick and Jim Laing were downed on 24 April 1967 but neither was made POW on THAT date. Southwick was downed a second time, on 14 May, and captured. Laing completed his cruise and returned stateside to help set up Topgun.*Davies states that the result of the first MiG combat, on 9 April 1965, remains "unclear." I think I made a pretty solid case in my MIG KILLERS OF YANKEE STATION that (1) Murphy/Fegan didn't shoot down any MiG and (2) they, in turn, were downed by an errant USN AAM.

I was a little disappointed in this book - but maybe that's just me. I would have preferred the History Channel dogfight series on cable.

The book follows the standard layout of the 'Duel' series, with a presentation of the two opposing pieces of equipment, followed by their use in combat and the relative success of each in this, as well as short portraits of some famous users (pilots in this case). Given that all of this, together with a fair number of pictures and a handful of drawings, needed to be squeezed into 80 pages one cannot expect the book to go into depth on any specific issue.The volume is generally reasonably well written but suffers (at least in the Kindle format) from the placement of the pictures and their associated text - as the pictures mostly do not fit the specific section of the text, reading the associated descriptions often gives the reader the opinion of the author jumping all over the place (avoidable if you save the pictures for the end, I suppose).The author also does not seem to hide which side he is siding with, with frequent uses of terms such as MiG Killers, etc. While slightly handicapped by the Vietnamese archives not yet having been open for researchers, one still gets the impression that more focus is placed on understanding the USN tactics and operations than on the Vietnamese side of the equation. For that some additional insight can be gotten from Gordon's  Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17: The Soviet Union's Jet Fighter of the 1950s (Aerofax) , Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19: The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter (Aerofax) , as well as from Sutiagin's reports on developing some of these tactics in Korea and subsequently training the Vietnamese air force ( MiG Menace Over Korea: Nikolai Sutiagin, Top Ace Soviet of the Korean War ). The author also recommends some additional reading at the end.So a book that will give you a basic understanding of the duels between the two aircraft types (without more than the odd comment on how USAF F-4s fared against the same MiGs) but which may leave many readers looking for more. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17: The Soviet Union's Jet Fighter of the 1950s (Aerofax)Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19: The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter (Aerofax)MiG Menace Over Korea: Nikolai Sutiagin, Top Ace Soviet of the Korean War

El Phantom utilizado por la USAF como un bombardero convencional y por la Navy como un caza de defensa de la flota. El phantom preparado para la guerra a distancia, derribar sin ver y el Mig 17 armado con cañones y heredero aún del dogfight de la guerra de Corea y de la segunda guerra mundial. Sensacional como siempre. Una gran serie de Osprey Military. Relación calidad precio muy buena.

Leaving apart the contents, this is a reprint in almost matt paper, grainy images, profiles and ilustrations.I will return it

Un libro nuovo DEVE essere Mint,questo non lo e'.Pessimo.