Specialty Press

Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters

by  Dennis Jenkins & Tony Landis

Reviewed By  Mike Howard, IPMS #30741

MSRP: $44.95 Distributed in the US by Specialty Press: www.specialtypress.com Specialty Press has come up with another great title for the fans of the unique and unusual U.S. aircraft. With the release of Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters, we're treated to a very good review of many early jet (and pre-jet) aircraft some that made it into the USAF inventory and many others that didn't. The format is somewhat non-standard, being in a 10.5 x 10.5 format, hence the oddity to the pages displayed in the review (they didn't fit on the scanner.) Well covered in text, photos (color and B&W) and drawings, the variety of planes is great. The title is a little misleading as Chapter 1, Innovative Dead Ends, is dedicated to some late WWII reciprocating engine powered prototypical aircraft, but this in no way detracts from the book.

Chapter 2, The First Jets, covers the early jets, reviewing the British and German designs of the 40's and then moves into the first U.S. jet fighter, the Bell P-59 Airacomet. From there the book progresses numerically (XP-59, XP-79, XP-80, etc.) X through the X and Y-series of aircraft as they were being designed and, in some cases, built and tested. Some of these aircraft were familiar to me while others were all new. Included in this section are some of the transitional aircraft that flew with both props and jets such as the XP-81.

All Weather Fighters are the focus of Chapter 3 and includes the doomed XP-87 Blackhawk as well as pre-production X and Y variants of the F-89, F-94 and the F-86D Sabre Dog. Histories from the initial inception through program cancellation or production life are well documented and make for very interesting reading.

Chapter 4, Point-Defense Fighters has a very in depth view of the XP-91 "Thunderceptor" and the delta winged XP-92. Again, great histories and photos give excellent coverage for history aviation buffs and modelers alike.

Chapter 5 covers the Penetration Fighters including the XF-88 (predecessor to the F-101 VooDoo), the XP-90, YF-93 and the XF-96A. None of these aircraft went into production from the original designs, though some did resurface later under different designations. A slight change of direction is seen in Chapter 6, Missiles?, where the authors show the era when the air-to-air and ground-to-air missiles came into their own. From the huge YIM-99 Bomarc through the development of the AIM-54 Phoenix, some insight as to the designs and trials of these weapons is covered. In Chapter 7 the book jumps in to what should be very familiar territory for any U.S. aircraft fan, The Century Series Fighters. Lots of great coverage starting with the YF-100 and progressing to the F-101, the X/YF-104, YF-105A/B, F-107 and terminating with the XF-109 is included here. Yes, the F-102 and F-106 series are conspicuously absent, but follow-up in their own section. Chapter 8, Century Series Interceptors, fills in some holes left in the Century series not covered in the previous chapter. A brief overview of the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) system starts out this section and explains the inception of the ground controlled interception project. The YF-102, XF-103, and YF-106 are well documented through their development periods and into the production phases (excluding the XF-103). The next big leap in aircraft design, Long Range Interceptors, Mach 3+, fills Chapter 9. Here the YF-12 and later SR-71 developments are defined as well as the never-produced XF-108 Rapier (a very cool airplane!). For anyone building the 1/72 Anigrand F-108, the detail shots of the mock-up are excellent for adding all of the little bits and pieces in the cockpit and radar. Chapter 10, End of an Era, moves to the aircraft designs that followed the Century aircraft. The F-5 series, F-4 and F-111, all long production run aircraft, are shown from their infancy through to the final production developments. Chapter 11, Another Revolution, brings us to the aircraft that are still in heavy use today, the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 Viper and the initial developments of the F-18, the YF-17 Cobra. Many early pictures, including trial camouflage schemes and demonstrator colors fill these pages. Many good shots of the various incarnations of the F-16XL are also available here. Finally we come to the last chapter of the book (you guessed it, Chapter 12), The Stealth Generation. Again the coverage is thorough, showing both the designs that did and didn't make it to production runs. The predecessor to the F-117, the Have Blue demonstrators get a section as well as the F-117 itself. The ATF (advanced Tactical Fighter) competition highlights the YF-22 and YF-23 being run through their paces. The other recent fighter fly-off for the JSF contract, featuring the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed X-35 conclude the chapter and bring the coverage of experimental aircraft to a modern conclusion. Following the main chapters are several appendices, the first one that I found to be particularly interesting. Appendix A gives a brief history of the various aircraft companies that built the aircraft found in the preceding chapters. Often I'd wondered what happened to some of the companies that were famous prior to and during WWII, but then seemingly disappeared. This section covers a lot of these mergers, take-overs and absorptions which I found to be yet another enjoyable section to read through. If you have an interest in the inception and design of jet powered aircraft, I believe you'll find this book to be an indispensable volume to add to your library. A big "Thanks!" goes out to Specialty Press and IPMS USA for allowing me the pleasure of reviewing yet another of their fine publications.

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