F-8 Crusader : Vietnam 1963-73 Paperback / softback

by Peter E. Davies

Illustrated by Jim (Illustrator) Laurier, Gareth (Illustrator) Hector

Part of the Dogfight series

Paperback / softback

Less than 10 available - usually despatched within 24 hours

Description

With specially commissioned artworks and dynamic combat ribbon diagrams, this volume reveals how the â€˜last of the gunfightersâ€™, as the F-8 was dubbed by its pilots, prevailed against the growing MiG threat of the Vietnamese Peopleâ€™s Air Force. When the Vietnam War began, the F-8 was already firmly established as a fighter and reconnaissance aircraft.

It entered combat as an escort for Alpha strike packages, braving the anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles alongside the A-4 Skyhawk bombers and meeting MiGs for the first time on 3 April 1965.

Although the Crusader was nicknamed â€˜last of the gunfightersâ€™, its pilots employed â€˜secondaryâ€™ AIM-9D Sidewinder missiles in all but one of their MiG kills, with guns also used as back-up in three.

Its 20 mm guns were unreliable as they often jammed during strenuous manoeuvres, although they were responsible for damaging a number of MiGs.

However, in combat the F-8 had the highest â€˜exchange ratioâ€™ (kills divided by losses) at six-to-one of any US combat aircraft involved in the Vietnam War. Through the copious use of first-hand accounts, highly detailed battlescene artwork, combat ribbon diagrams and armament views, Ospreyâ€™s Vietnam air war specialist Peter E.

Davies charts the successful career of the F-8 Crusader over Vietnam.