Midland Publishing

Soviet Rocket Fighters (Red Star Volume 30)

by  Yefim Gordon

Reviewed By  Clare Wentzel, IPMS# 11478

MSRP: $36.95 ISBN: 1-85780-254-4 This 30th book in the popular Midland Red Star series covers some interesting and mostly little known aircraft. The 128-page soft cover book describes efforts of Soviet designers to harness rocket propulsion to combat aircraft. Noted author Yefim Gordon takes the reader from the earliest experiments, including the pioneering BI through a number of interesting post war designs. The book contains 257 black and white photos and 54 drawings along with interesting color shots of the BI on the front and back cover. Chapters cover the BI, the 302 and 302P (another wartime design), Soviet study of the Me-163 design and the German influence, activities by Lavochkin and Mikoyan design bureaus and finally, their quest for speed. Each chapter is complete and contains lots of new photos. The book provides a very interesting chronology of Soviet efforts to harness the rocket engine to fighter aircraft. Over and above the great aircraft details, I enjoyed the book as it related to the Soviet aeronautical engineers who continued their quests to expand their knowledge in spite of the harsh conditions imposed upon them by the repressive Stalin regime. Some of the key work was accomplished by design bureaus that had been set up in prisons. The author brings the individuals to life in the book. We become familiar with the designers and the test pilots involved and we learn about some of the problems encountered with the early rocket designs, particularly those fueled by nitric acid. We also learn a little about the Soviet bureaucracy and how the designers attempted to navigate through the maze to obtain approval of their projects. From the modeler's standpoint, the book contains lots of good photos of early Soviet rocket aircraft, the BI, the 302 and 302P and the TS-1 series. For the aviation enthusiast, the book provides a wealth of information as listed above. All around, this is a well-recommended book. The book can be ordered in North America from Specialty Press by contacting their web site at (www.specialtypress.com) or calling them at 1-800-895-4585. The price of the book is $36.95 plus a shipping and handling fee of $4.95. Their web site features a number of very interesting books on aircraft, automotive and rail subjects. The book can also be purchased from other booksellers. A big thank you to Specialty Press for providing the sample and to IPMS/USA for letting me feed my hunger for weird and wonderful aircraft. Again, well recommended for all fans of Russian or modern aircraft and for aviation history fans.

About the Reviewer: Clarence 'Clare' Wentzel is a self-proclaimed aviation enthusiast and member of the Kalamazoo Scale Modelers of Kalamazoo Michigan who has been building models for several decades -- primarily 1/72 aircraft with a preference for out of the ordinary subjects.

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