Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft in Asia -Yefim Gordon/Hikoki

[Krishna_j]

Crecy needs to be complimented for the quick and timely release of the third hard back book in the series covering yet another exotic geo - Asia


This latest esoteric title covers all the Asian countries Afghanistan , Bangladesh, to Turkey and Vietnam incl Papua New Guinea and surprisingly Japan (during WW II) and South Korea - India and China have the biggest coverage and take up almost half the book. The Sri Lankan story is quite interesting including the introduction of the Mig 27 as is the Indonesian one esp the tales around the Tu-16 Badger and Mongolian Hinds.

Each country has a chapter with text and photos in a chronological order - with many period b/w and new colour photos - and around 150 + colour side profiles and some sqn badges - many of which will interest modellers.

The text deals with the historical and operational use of the Russian types(aircraft + Helicopters) in each country.At the end of each chapter , there is a listing of serial numbers of the ex-Russian aircraft and a status for each serial - some squadron numbers and location deployments are not listed.There are almost 40 pp of China Serial numbers and 30 Pp for India.

There is some new info on North Korea like the use of Tu-143 UAV - but photo caption typos persist eg on pp 271 the famous F-6 defection to South Korea by Capt Lee is shown as 1966 , whereas it was in 1996.

The details of the many skirmishes and air wars the Russian aircraft have participated seems quite sketchy and could have had more details esp on Russian doctrine tactics adopted.

On the plus side , there are some interesting colour profiles and lavish b/w and colour pictures - although its strange that some of the Indian air force photos taken by the Australian Peter Steineman Pp 169 are used in complete ignorance but i found the aircraft type coverage of India and China to be comprehensive with no major omissions.

My big gripe is that again apart from web sites - no bibliography is provided for additional reading.

To summarise , this is a lavish and colourful compilation and introduction to Soviet/Russian a/c in Asia and serves well as a concise historical record of aircraft types and well worth collecting.

The blurb on the back cover states that there will be a fourth volume on Latin and Central American countries which will complete a fascinating history and survey from Yefim Gordon's stable.

 

[gatoraptor]

The blurb on the back cover states that there will be a fourth volume on Latin and Central American countries which will complete a fascinating history and survey from Yefim Gordon's stable.

Thanks for that information. This series had originally been announced as a trilogy, and I wondered what happened to the Americas. I'm glad that there will be a fourth volume.

But if they really want to complete the story, they ought to include the use of Soviet aircraft by the United States, if enough of that information has been declassified.

 

[SOC]

But if they really want to complete the story, they ought to include the use of Soviet aircraft by the United States, if enough of that information has been declassified.

That's been covered already here:

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Eagles-Americas-General-Aviation/dp/1846039703

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1849089760/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1846039703&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=01AN3AAA3B9Z1W87M243

The only really earth-shattering info these days would be to uncover the stories behind MiG-29 and Su-27 use.

 

[Krishna_j]

The blurb on the back cover states that there will be a fourth volume on Latin and Central American countries which will complete a fascinating history and survey from Yefim Gordon's stable.

Thanks for that information. This series had originally been announced as a trilogy, and I wondered what happened to the Americas. I'm glad that there will be a fourth volume.

But if they really want to complete the story, they ought to include the use of Soviet aircraft by the United States, if enough of that information has been declassified.

i checked the back cover again - actually it says Americas - in which case the USA should also be included - but it may not be any new info as Yefim typically uses and quotes a lot of Western published sources.

 

[Deino]

Thanks ... but could You please explain the Chinese section a bit more ??

• Does it include (only) listings of aircraft serials they carried in their operational unit or indeed c/n of aircraft ?

• Are older types like MiG-9 and early MiG-15, MiG-15bis and MiG-15UTI listed as well in these 40+ pages ?

• What kind of text information is added to the country's sections: Only aircraft related or country related information, like how long and in what numbers they were used, what unit flew them and so on ??

• What types are included in the China section ... only SU/Russia delivered types or even Chinese derivates like the J-6, J-7, J-8, H-5, H-6 and Q-5 ?? (really with full listings of serials ????)

Thanks in advance,
Deino

 

[Deino]

Huu ?? No-one with an info on my questions ?

Deino

 

[sallows01]

Huu ?? No-one with an info on my questions ?

Deino

Deino


Looking at the book in answer to your questions;


1) there is a detailed list (41 pages)at the end of China section with; Type/ serial, reg/ cn's/ f/n's and notes which sometimes has unit information


2) yes all these are included


3) pretty much what you have said, it has the disjointed Yefim style with lots of information in there with highlighted aircraft types in bold to try and make it easier to find things.


4) it has Russian delivered and Chinese derivatives like the Y8 and Y15 but the emphasis is on Rus types. Serial listing is incomplete but an attempt has been made

 

[gatoraptor]

So, does anyone have any information on the (supposedly) forthcoming "Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft in the Americas"? Nothing shows up on either Crecy's or Amazon's websites.

 

[Krishna_j]

So, does anyone have any information on the (supposedly) forthcoming "Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft in the Americas"? Nothing shows up on either Crecy's or Amazon's websites.

Though the third volume on Asia mentioned the Americas as a forthcoming title and it would be a welcome addition to Africa/Middle East & Asia -sadly it appears that there are no immediate plans

- instead Crecy will revive the Famous Russian Aircraft Series with the SU-24 tome

 

[gatoraptor]

It looks like the book will still happen, but we'll have to be patient. According to an email I got from Crecy,

"Thanks for the email, we are in discussion with the author about this book and hope to produce it at some point in the future. We will of-course announce it on the website when the project moves forward which will be 2016/2017 at the earliest. Please keep an eye open for it and let us know if we can help further."

 

[Krishna_j]

something to look fwd to- at least there seems to be an interesr to produce the Americas volume by Crecy - even if its not in the near term as i said