Book Review of
British Reconnaissance Aircraft of the 1970s & 80s
From the Publishers of Fly Past Magazine
Historic Military Aircraft Series No. 10
Key Books
Author: Chris Goss
ISBN: 978-1-80282-197-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $24.95
Author: Chris Goss
ISBN: 978-1-80282-197-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $24.95
THE BOOK:
Key Books is located in the UK.
The book is soft-cover of 96 pages in 6 ¾” x 9 ½” page format.
This book explores the reconnaissance aircraft used by the British armed forces in the 1970s and 90s, namely the Avro Shackleton, Hawker Siddeley, Nimrod, Fairey Gannet and English Electric Canberra. The maritime patrol and airborne early warning (AEW) Shackleton was a descendant of the Avro Lancaster and Lincoln and was in service from 1951 to 1991.
The Nimrod, based on the De Havilland Comet, was also a maritime patrol aircraft and served between 1969 and 2011. The Gannet first flew in 1949, but, during the period covered by this book, flew in the AEW role with just one Royal Navy squadron. Finally, the Canberra, which first flew in 1949, was used as a bomber and then mainly in the reconnaissance role.
It was finally retired from the RAF in 2006. With over180 black and white and color photos, this book, the fourth in a series covering British combat aircraft of the 1970s and 80s, looks at the aircraft used in the reconnaissance or AEW roles.
The cover art shows a color photo of a Shackleton AEW aircraft in flight. It is overall olive-drab, with yellow Royal Air Force, followed by RAF roundel on its fuselage sides, along with a few yellow rectangles. The rudder has a yellow outlined no. 93 above a red, white and blue vertical fin flash.
The back cover of the book shows a color photo of a Nimrod in flight. It has a white spine over a dark-grey fuselage and undercarriage. A black no. 62 on the rudder over a red, white and blue vertical fin flash. RAF roundels on the fuselage sides.
The four Chapters in the book are on: The Canberra, Gannet, Nimrod and Shackleton. Listings of the numbers of the squadrons that used these aircraft and the years that they were with each of the squadrons is provided. Squadron insignia are also shown. There are a couple photos of aircraft carriers.
This is a neat book that shows the color and markings of all these aircraft, so it will be of great interest to modelers who plan to build any of them, and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. They are the N. American distributor of Key Books and all of Key’s titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Key Books is located in the UK.
The book is soft-cover of 96 pages in 6 ¾” x 9 ½” page format.
This book explores the reconnaissance aircraft used by the British armed forces in the 1970s and 90s, namely the Avro Shackleton, Hawker Siddeley, Nimrod, Fairey Gannet and English Electric Canberra. The maritime patrol and airborne early warning (AEW) Shackleton was a descendant of the Avro Lancaster and Lincoln and was in service from 1951 to 1991.
The Nimrod, based on the De Havilland Comet, was also a maritime patrol aircraft and served between 1969 and 2011. The Gannet first flew in 1949, but, during the period covered by this book, flew in the AEW role with just one Royal Navy squadron. Finally, the Canberra, which first flew in 1949, was used as a bomber and then mainly in the reconnaissance role.
It was finally retired from the RAF in 2006. With over180 black and white and color photos, this book, the fourth in a series covering British combat aircraft of the 1970s and 80s, looks at the aircraft used in the reconnaissance or AEW roles.
The cover art shows a color photo of a Shackleton AEW aircraft in flight. It is overall olive-drab, with yellow Royal Air Force, followed by RAF roundel on its fuselage sides, along with a few yellow rectangles. The rudder has a yellow outlined no. 93 above a red, white and blue vertical fin flash.
The back cover of the book shows a color photo of a Nimrod in flight. It has a white spine over a dark-grey fuselage and undercarriage. A black no. 62 on the rudder over a red, white and blue vertical fin flash. RAF roundels on the fuselage sides.
The four Chapters in the book are on: The Canberra, Gannet, Nimrod and Shackleton. Listings of the numbers of the squadrons that used these aircraft and the years that they were with each of the squadrons is provided. Squadron insignia are also shown. There are a couple photos of aircraft carriers.
This is a neat book that shows the color and markings of all these aircraft, so it will be of great interest to modelers who plan to build any of them, and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. They are the N. American distributor of Key Books and all of Key’s titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly Recommended.