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Rating: 
Summary: A Great Read for Buffs
Review: I am not an entirely experienced Aviation reader, so for a starter reference for buffs, this is a great book. It is very detailed and goes well in-depth on the American warplanes. While some better coverage of foreign warplanes would be nice, I am personally most enthralled by American warplanes, so it's fine. A great coffee table book, great for anyone who wants to be able to learn about their favorite jet well enough to talk about it, but not too detailed to be cryptic.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read for Buffs
Review: I am not an entirely experienced Aviation reader, so for a starter reference for buffs, this is a great book. It is very detailed and goes well in-depth on the American warplanes. While some better coverage of foreign warplanes would be nice, I am personally most enthralled by American warplanes, so it's fine. A great coffee table book, great for anyone who wants to be able to learn about their favorite jet well enough to talk about it, but not too detailed to be cryptic.
Rating: 
Summary: OK refference
Review: I got this book for what I thought was a good deal in the bargain books section at a Walden Books. I found it to be somewhat disappointing. Overall, the book's coverage of American aircraft is fairly decent, and extremely detailed. However, when it comes to discussing more recent American projects, including stealth aircraft, the book does poorly. The chapters covering these are too short and need to be updated like the chapters on less modern American aircraft. Another problem is the book's coverage of foreign war planes. These sections of the book seem to suffer from the same problems as the sections on American stealth, along with having poor photographs of Soviet era and Russian aircraft. Overall, the book is an OK refference for Gulf War era American warplanes, but badly needs updating on its other topics.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT COMBAT JET REFERENCE
Review: I recently borowed this book from a friend and i am going to have trouble giving it back. this is a great book it combines sharp color photos with in depth information on the design, development, avionics armarment etc. These photos include rare test pictures and live fire tests. I reccomend it to anyone intersted in jet aircraft.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting update of the late-80s copy of this book
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book but when I recieved it i was greatly disappointed. Most of the material is from the first edition which is at least ten to fifteen years old. Coverage of new planes like the B-2 is really poor. The section on Russian planes features old photos like the ones from books in the 70's and 80's. Monthly or weekly aviation magazines like Air International have far more professional and up-to-date coverage.
Rating:
Summary: The Great Book of Modern Warplanes
Review: In reading the description of the book, I had expected a lot of details on the "modern" airplanes, i.e., F-117, B-2, Gripen, Rafale, F-22, JSF, etc. However, the information on these airplanes was sparse at best. I was under the impression that full coverage of these planes would be the same as the with the current airplanes, i.e., F-16, F-15, F-14, F-18 and A-10. I don't know if the authors, who are well know for their in-depth coverage of warplanes, were under a tight schedule or what. They should have perform the same coverage as they did with the current warplanes. Overall a good history book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but with a few BIG errors
Review: This book scores big points with me, as it has a lot of interesing reading & great pictures. On the other hand, it sports a couple of glaring errors in the writing which undermines one's confidence in the rest of the book. The author who covers the chapter on the F-14 Tomcat for example, seems to have made up the section on deployment. In big, bold letters at the beginning of the chapter, and again on a table of squadrons, he announces that all but eight F-14 squadrons have been decommissioned. A quick check with the Navy (I highly recommend their web site) confirms that no less than 13 squadrons presently exist. Is this a "nitpicky" detail? Possibly, but the people who publish these books are supposedly aviation experts....I'm glad they're not writing medical references... Creative writing notwithstanding, this is still an interesting book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but with a few BIG errors
Review: This book scores big points with me, as it has a lot of interesing reading & great pictures. On the other hand, it sports a couple of glaring errors in the writing which undermines one's confidence in the rest of the book. The author who covers the chapter on the F-14 Tomcat for example, seems to have made up the section on deployment. In big, bold letters at the beginning of the chapter, and again on a table of squadrons, he announces that all but eight F-14 squadrons have been decommissioned. A quick check with the Navy (I highly recommend their web site) confirms that no less than 13 squadrons presently exist. Is this a "nitpicky" detail? Possibly, but the people who publish these books are supposedly aviation experts....I'm glad they're not writing medical references... Creative writing notwithstanding, this is still an interesting book.
Rating:
Summary: Coffee table reading for air enthusiasts
Review: This volume is a good mix of detailed history and other information on USAF fighter and attack aircraft of the 1960s thorugh 1980s (A-10, F-15, F-16, F-18, etc.) along with some rather sketchy data on late-model Soviet craft and stealth craft. The photos of the Soviet craft are particularly disappointing; most of them look like long-range surveillance photos shot in the Soviet era rather than the clear views seen at major air shows in the last decade. As a definitive reference it falls short, but as an enjoyable read for buffs, it's a good value. I bought a copy for an aviation-obsessed nephew, and he's mad about it. Owners of more complete and detailed libraries might be more subdued in their enthusiasm.
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