For their third book in the series, Squadron/Signal has chosen the Vietnam era for this Combat Chronicles title. As with the previous book, it is written by someone who was intimately involved with these types of aircraft. This is something that really adds to a book like this as he has the insights that are often missed by outside writers.

Following a similar format to the previous titles, this one provides an initial history of the concept of Aeroscouts and follows it from that point until the end of the war. This one is as much a series of war stories as it is anything else and since most participants are still with us, it makes for a much more in depth set of events.

Each of the various entries provides a look at the person involved as he was then and how he appears now. I found it surprising that several are still flying helos as I guess it is something that never gets out of one's blood. Intermixed in each of the events are images that help to highlight the events and several are from the various person's image collections.

You might expect this to be mostly a Loach book and in that you would be correct. The OH-6 was the primary scout helo during the war. It was frequently backed up by a UH-1 or AH-1 gunship, but these were the guys flying at tree-top level and taking most of the ground fire. It should be no surprise that a rather large percentage of these aircraft were knocked down during the conflict, but so well built were they that most of the time the crews survived.

Of course, it was the H-13 and H-23 that started off the process and stories about them are in here as well. As the war went on, the replacement for the OH-6, the OH-58 was used more and more often, but pilots preferred the lighter and more agile OH-6.

In all, it is very much a superb read. I found all of the stories fascinating to read and they provided a real insight as to what it was like to fly these aircraft as well as what it was like to maintain them. The huge number of color photos also add quite a bit to the book, making it a gold mine of info for modelers. It is a book that I am sure you will find just as fine as did I and I can highly recommend it to you, especially if you are a rotorhead.

This book is also available in hardback.

August 2012

Thanks to Squadron Products for the review copy. Get yours today at your favorite shop or on-line retailer.

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