There are three major players in the jet trainer game in Europe. There is the BAe Hawk, the Aermacchi MB.339 and the Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet. 

 Of the three, only the Alpha Jet is no longer being produced (at least I think so!). The Alpha Jet was originally designed for use by Germany and France, the two partners in the project. It was designed not only to be a jet trainer, but also to be used as a light attack aircraft. The mostly German produced version was the light attack one, the Alpha Jet A (for attack, I guess), while the trainer version, the Alpha Jet E (for ecole or school) was mostly produced by France. 

The Alpha jet succeeded in getting some overseas sales with countries like Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, and a few other countries. The biggest European buyer was Belgium who purchased 33 aircraft, most of which were assembled in Belgium by SABCA. The Alpha jet is still in use and there have only been four aircraft lost in over 20 years, two of them in a midair in 1999.

Belgian Alpha Jets have also been rather spectacularly painted for use as aerobatic display aircraft and all of those up to and including 1999 are shown in the book.

Marc Arys is obviously a major league aircraft enthusiast. His book covers anything you would ever want to know about the Belgian Alpha Jet. From its initial design, to Belgian interest and purchase of the aircraft, this Osprey-sized book is 116 pages full of photographs and information on this sprightly jet trainer.

There is a rather large section on the BAF (Belgian Air Force) use, including training syllabi as well as all the special schemes painted on Belgian Alpha Jets.

Probably the most useful part of the book for modelers is the walkaround section. If there is an intake, scoop, panel, or instrument on the Alpha Jet, there is a color photo of it in the book, usually from more than one angle. There are also sections on the cockpit, ejection seat and armament of the Alpha Jet. The final section lists all the BAF Alpha Jets and includes constructor number and delivery date.

The images in the book are, for the most part, very well done. A few are a bit pixilated in the intro section, but the rest are crystal clear.

Overall a really excellent book on the subject and highly recommended for those who are interested in the aircraft. The book is only available from the publisher at the link below.

Review copy courtesy of  Marc Arys

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