Israeli F-4 Phantom II Aces

(Paperback)

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Description

The American manufactured F-4 Phantom II was used by the Israelis in air-to-ground missions, as an attack aircraft, and air-to-air missions as a fighter. Despite performing both roles with equal success the Israeli reliance on the Mirage III and Nesher delta fighters meant that the F-4 was used most regularly in its air-to-ground role. The kill total of the Israeli F-4 community was, consequently, a modest 116.5; significantly lower than that of other Israeli aircraft types in service between 1969 and 1982. A handful of aces were, nevertheless, created and, using first hand accounts, this unique book tells their stories. Many F-4 pilots had previously flown the Mirage III but most of the navigators were either inexperienced flying school graduates or had been transferred from transport aircraft. The decision to create such teams may have appeared an odd one and it certainly led to a number of interesting experiences but proved, ultimately, to be so successful that by 2010 the Israeli air force will have more two-seat combat aircraft than single-seat fighters. The F-4 experience was, therefore, crucial to moulding the future of the Israeli air force.

Author Bio

Israeli author Shlomo Aloni is a life-long student of Middle East air warfare in general and of the Israeli Air Force in particular. He is the Israeli correspondent of the magazine Air Forces Monthly (UK) and a regular contributor to journals such as Avion Revue (Spain), Air Enthusiast, Air International and Scale Aviation Modelling (UK). Together with Brian Cull and David Nicolle he was co-author of Spitfires over Israel (Grub Street, 1993) and Wings over Suez (Grub Street, 1996). Mark has illustrated several books in both the Aircraft of the Aces and Combat Aircraft series. He has recently switched mediums from airbrush to Mac art, and has produced some of the best profiles Osprey has used to date in Combat Aircraft 18: 'B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Eigth Air Force' (part 1) and Combat Aircraft 22: 'Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko Betty Units of World War 2'.