MiG-17/19 Aces of the Vietnam War (Aircraft of the Aces, 130) - Softcover

Toperczer, István

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1472812557 ISBN 13: 9781472812551

Publisher: Osprey Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

At the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF) was equipped with slow, old Korean War-generation fighters--a combination of MiG-17s and MiG-19s,types that should have offered little opposition to the cutting-edge fighter-bombers such as the F-4 Phantom II, F-105 Thunderchief, and the F-8 Crusader. Yet when the USAF and US Navy unleashed their aircraft on North Vietnam in 1965, the inexperienced pilots of the VPAF were able to shatter the illusion of U.S. air superiority.

Taking advantage of its jet's unequaled low-speed maneuverability, small size, and powerful cannon armament, the VPAF was able to take the fight to its missile-guided opponents, with a number of Vietnamese pilots racking up ace scores. Packed with information previously unavailable in the West and only recently released from archives in Vietnam, this is the first major analysis of the exploits of Vietnamese pilots in the David and Goliath contest with the U.S. over the skies of Vietnam.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. István Toperczer is one of the few individuals from outside Vietnam with access to the Vietnamese People's Air Force files. He has interviewed many of the war years' aces and wrote MiG-17 and MiG-19 Units of the Vietnam War (Osprey Combat Aircraft 25) and MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War (Osprey Combat Aircraft 29).

Jim Laurier, a native of New England, has worked on the Osprey Aviation list since 2000 and has produced some of these volumes' finest artwork.

Review:

"This book is an excellent source for those interested in swept wing MiG combat and the Vietnam air war. I am enthusiastic about it and recommend it." - AeroScale

"Toperczer starts out covering the training North Vietnamese pilots received in China, Russia, Czechoslovakia, as well as North Vietnam. He then dives into the meat of the book, the pilot reports from both the US and North Vietnam. This is where this book excels. Most of the combat reports deal with the MiG-17, with the Chinese version of the MiG-19S (Shenyang J-6) not coming into play until 1971. Toperczer also covers how the North Vietnamese were continually changing their tactics through observation or interrogation of captured American pilots." - IPMS/USA

About this edition

• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1472812557
• ISBN 13: 9781472812551
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96
• Illustrator: Laurier Jim