Kagero Publishers continues to expand its Monograph series with a book dedicated to the F-14 in US Navy Service (one of the only two users of the airframe)

The book is divided in the following sections

• Genesis of a thoroughbred
• Production and variants
• VF-154 “Black Knights”
• Pilot and RIO
• VF-32 “Swordsmen”, its last deployment with the Tomcat
• F-14 Main Systems
• Weapons
• Tomcat in Combat
• F-14 Tomcat Retired, Baby!
• F-14 Tomcat in 2002

Each section can be read as a stand-alone mini-monograph on the topic at hand. Each section is well researched, has plenty of information on it and, if relevant quotes from pilots are included.

This is volume 75 in the monograph series. The book follows the usual monograph format. Included along with 1/48 drawings bound into the volume is a separate 2-sided page of 1/32 drawings.

The first 16 pages of the book discuss the A5M’s predecessors such as the Nakajima A1N2, Mitsubishi 1MF10 and its immediate predecessor; the Ka-14. The bulk of the book is dedicated to production and combat usage of the A5M, most of which was in China. Assigned the Allied code name “Claude” with “Sandy” reserved for the inverted gull wing version that never went into production. At the time of Pearl Harbor 193 A5Ms were in service. Most of these in rear units. The Claude stayed in service with operational units until April of 1942 with some air defense units using them until near the end of 1943.

Russian aircraft are really starting to take-off. Pun intended. With the release of new kits out of the Ukraine we are seeing an influx of well-engineered kits from Zvezda and AMK. One thing that always struck me as ‘cool’ about VVS aircraft was the slogans painted on the sides of them. American aircraft had pinup nose art, but the patriotic slogans of the Russian aircraft have always resonated with me. The problem is what do you do when you find one that you like. Usually, you have to go to the bland ones instead or whatever is in the box. Not anymore. Thanks to Foxbot you now have options.

Based in Central Europe Kagero Publishing House is the biggest publisher and exporter of English-written publications about military history, releasing nearly 60 titles every year. Kagero was founded in 1995, and began by delivering military titles in Polish. Their success led Kagero to start releasing books in English in 1998. Authors from Poland, Canada, USA, Australia and Great Britain, who were invited to write for Kagero, gave a beginning to a new range of products, which have put them in a position of one of the most recognized publishers on the market. Kagero has released more than 550 publications. Kagero is managed by Damian Majsak and his wife Joanna.

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Background

During the last part of the nineteen thirties, the U.S. Navy was in the process of replacing its biplanes with higher performing monoplanes. The Curtiss SBC “Helldiver” dive bomber was being replaced by the Vought Sikorsky SB2U “Vindicator”, and the Martin T4M’s were being replaced by the Douglas TBD-1 “Devastator” monoplanes. Grumman’s last biplane, the F3F-2, was just entering service when the decision was made to equip Navy fighter squadrons with monoplanes. The first monoplane, the Brewster F2A-1, later known as the Buffalo, was entering service when Grumman’s biplane competitor, the F4F-1, was redesigned, becoming the XF4F-2 Wildcat monoplane. The F4F-2 proved to be a much better airplane, and the production model, the F4F-3, was produced in quantity, with the F2A-1 taking a back seat, although quite a few were issued to Marine Corps units.