The Fairchild A-10 was the choice of the US Air Force to replace the A-7 for ground attack duties. The USAF never really liked the A-7 as it was yet another Navy aircraft. While it was quite capable, it wasn't designed specifically for USAF requirements. With the A-10, they got everything they wanted in terms of heavy firepower and survivability. Slated to be withdrawn from service in 1991 as part of a cost cutting measure, it was given a new lease on life thanks to the first Gulf War. Rethinking their decision, it has stayed in the inventory and has remained a valuable asset in the intervening years.

This is yet another of Kagero's 'walk around' books and concentrates on the A-10 Warthog (no one other than press releases calls it the Thunderbolt II). The book starts out with overall photos of various aircraft then gets into the close-up mode with images from an A-10 of the 103 FS, Pennsylvania ANG, and one that is in a museum. Most of the areas of the aircraft are well covered, though they do miss the LASTE modifications used on a number of regular USAF planes.

Unlike some of the previous editions, this one is in full color from cover to cover. It also provides a nice freebie in terms of a decal sheet (in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scale) for an A-10 from the 172 FS, which was hit by a missile over Baghdad in April of 2003. A set of full color three views for this aircraft are shown on the back cover.

Overall, an excellent volume and one that I can most highly recommend to those of you who like to see the detail bits of various aircraft.

October 2005

You can find this book and many others at

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that has around 300,000 visitors a month, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.