This is the second in this series of predominantly photo books that covers aircraft and units of the Israeli Air Force. As the first was on the inital F-16A unit, the First Jets, it only makes sense that the second Netz unit, The Knights of the North, would be the subject.

Unlike the First Jets Squadron, the Knights of the North were a ground attack unit, flying Skyhwaks before converting over. However, the F-16 is very much a bonafide multi-role fighter, able to handle ground attack as well as air to air, so the mission lines were pretty much blurred. In fact, the Knights of the North were stationed at the same base as the First Jets and they swapped out the mission when they flew together. Both partook in the raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. Both participated in both ground and air missions during the Lebanon War, gaining many air to air victories, and both converted to the later F-16C Barak within months of each other. 

The book covers the full seven year period of operation by the Knights of the North Squadron using this aircraft before they moved on to the F-16C/D in 1987. The 210mm x 220mm book has 108 pages just crammed with photographs of the unit's aircraft and people during different times of operation. The image sequences cover the time-line of operations and so we see how the airframes and markings changed during these times.

The initial pages of the book are where the background history is provided, followed by photos in both color and greyscale. The end of the book has several pages of superbly drawn color profiles. In all, this is a real boon to both the casual reader, aviation history buff and modeler alike. Highly recommended.

December 2011

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