Osprey Publishing

USN F-4 Phantoms II vs. VPAF Mig-17/19

by  Peter Davies

Reviewed By  Tracy Palmer, IPMS# 39188

MSRP: $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-84603-475-6 Website: www.ospreypublishing.com Osprey has struck again. This time their subject is jets, in specific, the U.S. Navy's F-4 Phantom II and the North Vietnamese's Mig-17's and 19's. This book is number 23 in their 'duel' series. As I have read some of the others books in this series, I was not disappointed in this new title. There were lots of good photos of not only the jets, but the people who flew them on both sides. The artwork was outstanding. The book has 80 pages, making it an easy read over the short haul. The author broke the book down into nine chapters. He started with the chronology of both aircraft on a time scale, went into design and development, and then into technical specifications of both aircraft. The next few chapters are devoted to the situation in Viet Nam and the way both sides used their respective aircraft in combat. This area does have some exciting stories of how pilots of both sides used their planes to the best advantages and how each had to overcome serious shortfalls in the aircraft. This should be very interesting to the history buffs among us. Modelers will very much enjoy the cockpit paintings and photos of the aircraft, showing the planes in their used and weathered conditions. The end of the book discusses the statistics of the planes, losses, top aces, and the aircrafts' aftermath following the Viet Nam war. I enjoyed reading this book for a number of reasons. From a historical perspective, the best part was the side by side comparisons of the aircraft. From a modeling perspective, the color paintings of the cockpits were the best. While there are thousands of pictures of Phantom's out there as well as a few of the Mig's, I have not seen the detail in color that this book's paintings bring out. I would recommend this book to all who want a concise yet different approach to these to aircraft as well as to the modelers who want to build them. This book does a great job of wrapping a lot of information into a small package! Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review copy.