U.S. Naval Air Superiority: Development of Shipborne Jet Fighters 1943-1962

overscan (PaulMM)

overscan (PaulMM)

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Recently picked up this book by forum member Tommy H Thomason.

Its a really nicely written account of the early development of US carrierborne jet fighters, primarily built aircraft but with a generous sprinkling of unbuilt projects as well. Tommy's knowledge of carrier aviation is clearly extensive, and the book uses a lot of primary materials.

Nicely illustrated with a good selection of photos and drawings, this book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in jet fighter development.

Tommy gives tribute to some well known fellow writers he admires in his introduction. On the strength of this book, he should not be afraid to count himself in that select group. Very nice work!

http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Naval-Air-Superiority-Delevelopment/dp/1580071104
 
Thanks for the post. I'm waiting for my copy to be delivered by mid August :)
 
I agree, it's an excellent book. In particular, it does a good job at describing the problems the Navy faced transitioning to jets and swept wing aircraft. There is a plethora of semi-obscure models that only served for a few years and are covered extensively.

I wonder if there will be a companion book "1962-present day", although I guess all that is missing is F-14, F-18 as far as pure fighters, and both have been covered extensively in other publications.

In the same amazon page, they advertise "Experimental and prototype US Air Force jet fighters"
http://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Prototype-Force-Fighters-Specialty/dp/1580071112/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
Does anyone know if it's any good?
 
mea maxima culpa :-[. i should have checked the other posts, the experimental and prototype book has been discussed before. As the usual, the forum is way ahead of me ;D
 
Some low res teaser pics
 

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more.
 

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I'm only part way through the book, but I cannot stress enough how good this is. It was worth every penny and then some.
 
Yes, it's really a MUST HAVE. Guys, who are interested in US jet aircraft, don't hesitate to buy it. Excellent job, Mr Thomason :) .
 
Just getting through the book now and its truly great. Doesn’t just cover USN fighter development but carrier landing and takeoff development as well. The question now is will there be:

US Navy Air Superiority: Development of Shipborne Jet Fighters 1963-2013
US Navy Air Superiority: Development of Shipborne Attack Aircraft 1945-1995
US Navy Air Superiority: Development of Shipborne Aircraft 1915-1945
US Navy Air Superiority: Development of Aircraft Carriers 1911-2011
 
I have the book since this morning...
Hats off for Mr.Thomason !
 
It's a great book I just wish someone would publish an in-depth account of the F-4/Crusader III competition.
 
i got mine yesterday ;D exellent work.there is a section on the usnavy mat landing system that iwas on aware of and information on the panther turret system that i had been looking for years now.

AeroFranz said:
I agree, it's an excellent book. In particular, it does a good job at describing the problems the Navy faced transitioning to jets and swept wing aircraft. There is a plethora of semi-obscure models that only served for a few years and are covered extensively.

I wonder if there will be a companion book "1962-present day", although I guess all that is missing is F-14, F-18 as far as pure fighters, and both have been covered extensively in other publications.

In the same amazon page, they advertise "Experimental and prototype US Air Force jet fighters"
http://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Prototype-Force-Fighters-Specialty/dp/1580071112/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
Does anyone know if it's any good?
Click to expand...
also got this one good book not as thorough
 
Nugo, If by index, you mean table of contents:

U.S. Naval Air Superiority

Preface

Introduction

1 The Opportunity – Benefits, Problems, and Requirements
2 Baby Steps – Initial Testing and Problem Recognition
3 First Squadron-size Programs
4 Second Generation – Operational and into combat
5 Research and Development – Aerodynamics and Armament
6 Disappointments From Overreaching
7 F7U Cutlass - Never Quite Sharp Enough
8 Placeholders
9 F4D Skyray – Optimized Interceptor
10 F3H Demon – Patience and Persistence
11 Carriers Evolve
12 Safety Improvement
13 Really Supersonic
14 Achieving Mach 2
15 Summary and Epilogue

Appendix – Navy Aircraft Designation System

Glossary

End notes

Suggested Reading

Index

I guarantee that the book includes pictures that you've never seen before:
 

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Nugo,

there is no project list on this book. It is not the same concept of book as the "Secret Projects" series. Not an unbuilt project encyclopedia. It is the story of how US Navy matched the jet powered fighter with the aircraft carrier ship. It is a fascinating book and worths every cent.
 
Hi pometablava!

Please post the U.S. Naval Air Superiority: Development of Shipborne Jet Fighters 1943-1962: Index
(as in the case American Secret Projects index pg.1 and pg.2)
 
Nugo, here you have the contents
 

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I grabbed this book as soon as I could get my hands on it and have been slowly going through it for the last several months (I'd go faster, but I'm usually juggling quite a number of books at once at any given time) and it's highly recommended. The author beautifully puts the development of post war USN jet fighters in a historical and technical context that makes it read almost like a biography.
 
Latest very positiv review I've read, is in Flugzeugclassic 01/2009.
Congratulations, Tommy ! ;)
 

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Does the book projects competitors of the Ryan XFR-1 ?
Click to expand...

No Nugo, there aren't such projects in the book. As I told it is a superb book which tells the story of naval jet fighter development. Since you're looking for unbuilt projects you are not going to find it there.

Regards,

Antonio
 
I was lucky enough to receive this book as a christmas present. in a word, excellent!
as has already been mentioned, it has the wonderful combination of factual depth and readability, that's found in other titles, from this publisher.
Great work, Tommy, looking forward to the next one! ;D

cheers,
Robin.
 

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