Review by Cmdr. Peter B. Mersky, USNR (Ret.)
One of the latest in Osprey’s Dogfight Series, this new book by well-published authority Peter Davies is one of the best analyses of the Crusader’s design and attributes. The brief history does not mention such things as Tom Hudner’s Medal of Honor mission in Korea on Dec. 4, 1950, (although he did fly Crusaders for a brief period in the Cold War afterward), or the change in the U.S. aircraft designation system in October 1962, perhaps a little too much to expect in this brief examination of the F8U/F-8. Still, it is one of the best aircraft analyses I have seen and should add valuable information to what must be a considerable collection of data on the Crusader.
Details of the early combat missions by F-8 pilots Hal Marr and Phil Vampatella are many and not known, and are offered in a new way to old Crusader authorities like me. Although the reference on page 24 to the round count of the four Colt 20 mm cannons being 84 to a later 150 rounds per gun (rpg) is new and inaccurate. The actual count was 125 rpg as confirmed by most veteran Crusader drivers I know.
The cover illustration is another unique image by Osprey illustrator Gareth Hector showing Fighter Squadron (VF) 162 commanding officer Cmdr. Dick Bellinger (a distant relative of Vice Adm. Patrick N.L. Bellinger (1885-1962), naval aviator No. 8) chasing down the first MiG-21 kill by the U.S. Navy in 1966. The two-page ribbon-engagement diagrams by Tim Brown showing the MiG kills by Cmdr. Hal Marr (commanding officer, VF-211) in 1966, Lt. Dick Wyman (VF-162) in 1967, and Cmdr. Lowell “Moose” Myers (commanding officer, VF-51) in 1968 are also different depictions of these well-known successful F-8/MiG encounters.
