This is the 14th volume of HMH's Aircraft in Detail series and covers a favorite aircraft of many enthusiasts. The book is a nice size for full page images and it is very image intensive with each section containing the information in photo captions rather than a prolonged historical section.

The book covers (for the most part) what is still flying flying today. The main operator, the USN/USMC stopped flying the aircraft back in 2003 when VC-8 retired their last Skyhawk. In the ten or so years prior to that, they were used by the US in the adversary role, a function for which they are well qualified. When the US retired the type, several A-4M and OA-4Ms were sold to the military forces of Argentina and Brazil, who used them on their aircraft carriers. These nations still fly the type today.

Over the last ten or so years, there has been an increase in the number of civilian operators of ex-military types to provide the adversary role that used to be done by the military. When Israel retired their last A-4s in 2015, these airplanes became available for this purpose and many of them were purchased specifically for these civilian companies. This book covers not only the Brazilian, Argentine, and Israeli aircraft flying in the 2010s, but also those operated by civilians.

As with the recent Mirage F.1 book, the majority of close-up images come from these civilian aircraft. These are as much close-up books as they are pure eye candy. Sections include the Fuselage, Cockpit, Wings, Front and Main Landing Gear, Maintenance, Engine, and an In Action section of photos.

All of the photos are superb and provide the sort of detail that modelers love. It all makes for a superb book not just for those who like great photos, but those who are interested in more of the detail stuff. It is a book that I can quite easily recommend to fans of the type and modelers alike.

March 2021

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