F-8 Crusader: Vietnam 1963-73

The F-8 Crusader was a successful fighter and reconnaissance aircraft in the Vietnam War, employing secondary AIM-9D Sidewinder missiles and guns for MiG kills. It had the highest 'exchange ratio' of any US combat aircraft, with six kills for every loss.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 80 pages
Publication date: 20 July 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

With specially commissioned artworks and dynamic combat ribbon diagrams, this volume reveals how the 'last of the gunfighters,' as the F-8 was dubbed by its pilots, prevailed against the growing MiG threat of the Vietnamese Peoples Air Force. When the Vietnam War began, the F-8 was already firmly established as a fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. It entered combat as an escort for Alpha strike packages, braving the anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles alongside the A-4 Skyhawk bombers and meeting MiGs for the first time on 3 April 1965. Although the Crusader was nicknamed 'last of the gunfighters,' its pilots employed 'secondary AIM-9D Sidewinder missiles in all but one of their MiG kills, with guns also used as back-up in three. Its 20 mm guns were unreliable as they often jammed during strenuous manoeuvres, although they were responsible for damaging a number of MiGs. However, in combat, the F-8 had the highest 'exchange ratio (kills divided by losses) at six-to-one of any US combat aircraft involved in the Vietnam War. Through the copious use of first-hand accounts, highly detailed battlescene artwork, combat ribbon diagrams, and armament views, Osprey's Vietnam air war specialist Peter E. Davies charts the successful career of the F-8 Crusader over Vietnam.

Weight: 268g
Dimension: 250 x 185 x 5 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472857545