Description
ABOUT THIS PRODUCT
At the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF)
were 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 US air superiority.
Taking advantage of their jet's unequalled low-speed maneuverability, small
size and powerful cannon armament they were able to take the fight to their
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 US over the skies of Vietnam.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Dr Istv ¡n Toperczer is a flight surgeon with the Hungarian Air Force. In his
spare time, he has become one of the few individuals from outside Vietnam to
be given open access to the files of the Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF).
He has made numerous visits to Hanoi, and other Vietnamese cities, in the
past 20 years, and has interviewed many of the leading aces from the war
years. He wrote the hugely successful COM 25 and 29. Jim Laurier is a native
of New England, growing up in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has been
drawing since he could hold a pencil and throughout his life he has worked
in many mediums creating artwork on a variety of subjects. He has worked on
the Osprey Aviation list since 2000, and in that time he has produced some
of the finest artwork seen in these volumes.
CONTENTS
Pilot Preparation
Early phase of the Vietnam War
Ace biographies and aerial tactics
Achievements of the North Korean Peoples' Air Force pilots
Appendices
