The Sea Hawk can rightly be considered to be the aircraft that truly brought the Royal Navy into the jet age when it came to carrier fighters. Sure, there were Sea Vampires and Meteors before, but they were adaptations of land based aircraft and not truly designed for life at sea. The Sea Hawk was.

It was an uncomplicated and robust aircraft that was, by all the accounts you'll find in this book, a pure delight to fly. It was very much a pilot's aircraft and that comes to the forefront in the experiences of every pilot who has written for this book.

Of course, it wasn't without its quirks, such as tucking a fuel cell next to the engine exhaust where a crack in the exhaust manifold would generally require the pilot to bail out. The ground crew also found that there were parts and components that were less than easy to reach and that the wiring harnesses tended to give much grief as the airframe got older.

Still, it was a most successful aircraft that was exported to Germany, the Netherlands and India. Outside of the UK, it was India that used the Sea Hawk probably longer than any other nation, finally retiring the last of them in the early 1980s.

Fortunately for us all, there are several extant airframes and the Royal Navy's Historic flight keeps one airworthy to please those fortunate enough to attend British air shows. I do wish the USAF and USN would do this, but apparently it just isn't something in which they are interested.

The book is more than 'I was there' stories. In its 136 pages are 195 superb photographs, and 18 outstanding pieces of artwork (profiles and four views). For a Sea Hawk fan, those are enough to justify the cover price. I found the entire volume to be a delight to read and the layout provides for large quality images. It is a book that I can most highly recommend to you.

October 2007

My thanks to AdHoc 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.adhocpublications.com

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