One of the more written about aircraft is the F-4 Phantom II. You can find books on the aircraft from a variety of sources, but for the first time, there is a series of books about the Phantom II in service with the various nations of the world. A history of the type in the sort of depth that we have not seen before.

Double Ugly Books, a subsidiary of Air Doc, has started this series with one of the more interesting services to use the Phantom II, the IDF/AF, and this is the third volume. This one covers the first service to use the aircraft and one that continued to fly it from ships for about 30 years. Even after that, it was in use with other units until 2004 when the Navy stopped flying full scale drones.

Throughout the 160 pages of this hardbound book there are over 350 full color images and large, page width, full color profiles.

The book starts off with a brief introduction to the F-4 that includes its development history, the different USN variants, an explanation on USN unit lineage, the meaning of tail codes, squadron colors and modex. Then it goe into aircraft colors as well as the various air wings of Atlantic and Pacific squadrons that had Phantoms.

By page 8 we are starting into the individual units. Each of these forty-six units includes active fleet and reserve units as well as those other units (such as the Blue Angels and test units) that flew the Phantom II. These sections have at least one photo and often many more that cover the Phantom's time with those units. There is also a full unit history that covers not just the F-4's tenure, but the full story of the unit.

Of course, what makes this such a super book are all the photos. These have been chosen for their clarity and crispness and are superbly printed. This really is eye candy for the Phantom Phanatic.

It is a book that I can easily give my highest recommendation and one that should be a must have for any enthusiast or modeler of the Phantastic Phantom.

October 2010

My thanks to AirDoc for the review book. You can find these at your local hobby shop and if not, ask them to order them for you. You can also order direct by e-mailing them at www.airdoc.eu

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.