Over the years, it has been common for various military air arms to put out a proposal to various aircraft companies and then choose among those submissions possible candidates for production. This involves the military funding these projects, at least through the prototype stage so it can be seen which one meets or at least gets the closest to their specifications.

The prototypes are put through their paces and often the best one is chosen for production. I say often for it is not infrequent for the one with the best overall performance to be bypassed due to budgetary restrictions or even political concerns. There are also types that entered service even without this sort of competition. At other times more than one may be chosen, again for budgetary, speed of development, or just to provide a backup in case it is needed.

This book covers all of the major fly-off competitions for combat aircraft since the end of WWII. These are for combat aircraft and not for transports or other unarmed types. I have to assume that tankers, cargo planes and ASW platforms, for instance, will be covered in a following book.

Since the end of WWII, there have been ten major competitions that fill the requirements of combat aircraft, and all of these are covered in some depth. This includes the initial design and choices of equipment for these aircraft. Often times the military has left it up to the designers to provide what is needed to meet specs and it has resulted in some pretty interesting designs. Designs that look very unusual at the time, but are today what seems to be 'normal' as they are more and more widely used.

In a nutshell, here are the various competitions:

Medium Jet Bomber: B-45/46/47/48
Journey to Jets: AJ-1, B-45, CF-100, B-51, Canberra
Penetration Fighter:F-88/90/93/101
Heavy Bomber: B-52/60
Tactical Fighter: F-105/107
Navy Interceptor: F4H/F8U-3
Close Air Support: A-9/10
Lightweight Fighter: F-16/17
Advanced Tactical Fighter: F-22/23
Joint Strike Fighter: F-32/35

Each entry has a lot of superb photos in both color and black and white. In addition, there are a considerable number of computer generated illustrations of what some of those not chosen might have looked like if put into service. A considerable bibliography is also included for those who wish to know more about each subject.

Even though none of these subjects was unknown to me (the result of having been around for over 6 decades), I found the write up on each section to be an interesting read and I learned something on each type that I did not know previously. The author's writing style is interesting and keeps one focused on the subject in hand. In line with just about every Specialty Press book I've ever read (and I do read these), this is one I can highly recommend to you whether you are new to the types or not.

June 2016

Copyright ModelingMadness.com

Review book courtesy of . You can get this book at this link.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.