Phoenix Scale Publications, based in Great Britain, is a partnership of four people whose combined experience equals over 100 years working in both the aviation and modelling press. After so many years working for others, they came together as equal partners in this new venture, with each partner bringing their own unique talents. On the editorial side we have Andy Evans, who, during his 40-year career has been at the helm of five aviation and modelling magazines, as well as a contributor to many more. He is also a published author with over 60 aviation and modelling books to his name. David Francis is an IPMS UK and Belgium Nationals Gold winning modeler and he has edited one of the world’s best-selling magazines for six years. His work has featured in numerous aviation and modelling books and magazines for the last 35 years. On the design side we have Jonathan Phillips and Andy Folds, who have been involved in designing and producing a wide range of magazines and books over the last 25 years, including market-leading modeling magazines.

The Phoenix Red Series was launched with the F-16 Fighting Falcon Part 1 [US Versions], followed by F-16 Fighting Falcon Part 2 [International Versions] and Wild Weasels.These first three books are currently sold out. Red Series Book Number 6 The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and is the subject of this review. Two additional books in the Red Series are currently available: Number 4 The Republic F-105 Thunderchief and Number 5 The Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady. This square-back volume is 140 glossy pages surrounded by card covers. The front cover photograph is a F-15C of the 18^th Wing, based at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.Not counting the inside cover advertisements, I counted 390 color photographs and no black and white photographs.Andy Evans also provides twenty-four color side profiles covering F-15A through the F-15E variants.

Andy Evans kicks off this tome with 73 pages on the Development and Service of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.The US Air Force, as a result of their Vietnam experience, began looking for a F-4 Phantom II replacement in 1965 with the F-X proposal. This proposal floundered until the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 capabilities were revealed in 1967. The USAF regrouped and after a review of proposals, selected the McDonnell-Douglas proposal in December 1969. The F-15A achieved its first flight on July 27, 1972, as the USAF air-superiority fighter.This first flight can be seen in the color photograph on Page 10 with 71-0280 flying over Edwards Air Force Base with its gear down. There was no ‘fly-off’ and no prototype aircraft as the F-15A was ordered off the drawing board, generating significant controversy.

Chapter 2 covers the development and service of the F-15A, F-15B, F-15C, and F-15D. Chapter 3 introduces the ground attack variant of the Eagle with the F-15E and F-15EX Strike Eagles. This idea was prototyped with the modification of the F-15B,71-0291, with the back seat converted to a WSO [Weapons System Officer] office. There was a fly-off this time with the General Dynamics F-16XL, but the F-16E was declared the fly-off winner on February 24, 1984. International Eagles are described in Chapter 4 with the development and operational use of the F-15 in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Qatar, and Japan Air Forces. Specialized Eagles are covered in Chapter 5, and there were a lot of them. The ‘Agile Eagle’ is shown at the top of Page 73 with its canards fully deflected. This airframe was modified from F-15B, 71-290, for the Manoeuvering Technology Demonstrator (MTD) and Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) role. After forty-three test flights, the now re-designated NF-15B was fitted with the first of several thrust vectoring systems. She was finally retired in 2009 and is now on display at Edwards AFB.

McDonnell-Douglas F-15 color side profiles are up next with five pages of Andy Evans’ artwork. The next section is devoted to detailed photographs in a Walkaround style. F-15C, 80-035, is the first of four Eagles detailed in this Walkaround. She is shown in the markings where she served in the 131^st Fighter Wing based in St. Louis, Missouri, at Whiteman AFB. She last served with the 259^th Fighter Wing at JRB New Orleans, before being sent to AMARC on March 6, 2023. Three color photographs of her landing gear are shown on page 84 along with a rear view of the wing tank mount. A F-15 photo gallery is up next with six pages of colorful photographs. Appendix I covers F-15 Variants and Specifications.

The next section covers build seven reviews of the F-15 Eagle in 1/72 and 1/48 scales. Jos Jansen shows off his build of the Tamiya 1/48 F-15C Eagle on Page 114. This Eagle, 79-027, served with the 32^nd TFS at the former USAFE base Soesterberg in the Netherlands. Jos used decals from Astra Decals and Dutch Decals to complete this bird. She transitioned to the 325^th Fighter Wing at Tyndall AFB on April 14, 1992. She was lost on March 15, 1993 when she crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, 100 miles South of Tyndall AFB. The pilot ejected safely and was rescued. The contents include:

• Acknowledgements
• Author’s Note
• Glossary of Terms
• Introduction: The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
• Chapter 1: Early Eagles [Page 010]
  • Development Eagles
• Chapter 2: Eagles A To D
  • F-15A
  • F-15B
  • F-15C
  • F-15D
  • F-15 In US Service
  • The F-15 In The Gulf War
  • Continued Operations
  • Aggressor Eagles
• Chapter 3: Striking Eagles
  • The F-15E and F-15EX
  • The Strike Eagle At War
    • Operation ‘Desert Storm’
    • Operation ‘Desert Fox’
    • Operation ‘Deny Flight’ and ‘Deliberate Force’
    • Operation ‘Allied Force’
    • Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’
    • Operation ‘Southern Watch’ and ‘Iraqi Freedom’
    • Operation ‘Odyssey Dawn’
    • Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’
  • The F-15EX
• Chapter 4: International Eagles
  • Israel
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Republic of Korea Air Force
  • Singapore
  • Japan
  • Qatar
• Chapter 5: Specialized Eagles: Test, Evaluation, and Proposed Versions
  • F-15 ASAT
  • IFFC / Firefly III F-15
  • NF-15B Agile Eagle [Page 073]
  • F-15 Wild Weasel
  • F-15E Silent Eagle
  • F-15N Sea Eagle
  • RF-15 Peek Eagle
  • NASA F-15A/B
  • F-15 Streak Eagle
  • F-15 ACTIVE – F15 S/MTD
  • F-15 IFCS
  • F-15 HIDEC
• Color Profiles by Andy Evans [Page 081]
• Walkaround: F-15 Eagle In Detail
  • F-15C Eagle [Page 084]
  • F-15I Ra’am
  • F-15CJ
  • F-15E Strike Eagle
• F-15 Gallery
• F-15 Variants
• F-15 Specifications
• F-15C Typical Specifications
• F-15E Strike Eagle Typical Specifications
• Modeling: Building the F-15 in Popular Scales
  • ‘Digital Eagle’ by Alan Kelly [Academy 1/48 F-15C Aggressor]
  • Wolfhounds Eagle By Jos Jansen [Tamiya 1/48 F-15C] [Page 114]
  • Updated Eagle By Danumurthi Mahendara [Academy 1/72 F-15C MSIP II]
  • Bitburg’s Tiger Eagle By Pascal Klasen [Great Wall 1/48 F-15C MSIP]
  • Eagle School By Pasecal Klasen [ Hasegawa 1/48 F-15D]
  • Thunder Struck By Mario Serelle [Great Wall 1/72 F-15I Ra’am]
  • Eagle Strike! By Toby Knight [Revell 1/48 F-15E]

Phoenix delivers a great book on the F-15 Eagle. You get 390 photographs, all in color. The seven build reviews are all well done and show off what can be accomplished with the available model kits. If you are planning on building a F-15 Eagle, this book is a must-have. My thanks to Phoenix Scale Publications and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great issue.

Highly recommended!