Air War on the Edge

A History of the Israel Air Force and its Aircraft since 1947
By Bill Norton
Midland Publishing, ©2004
ISBN 1-85780-088-5
Hardbound, 432 Pages
Available from Specialty Press for $89.95

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The history of the Israeli Air Force has always been shrouded in secrecy, but recently that shroud has been slowly peeling back, revealing bits and pieces of this tenacious air force. With this book, though, that shroud has been blown away, although not entirely. The author has set out to present the most complete picture of the Israeli Air Force yet seen. While the book is not a comprehensive history of the operations of the Israeli Air Force, it does start out with a brief overview of all the main conflicts, starting with the War of Independence, continuing through to the War in Lebanon, and finishing with the present situation in Israel.

Following this refresher course on Israeli Air Force operations comes the real meat of the book, that being an unbelievable listing of every aircraft flown by the Israelis. This includes 84 operational aircraft types, ten unmanned aircraft types, five aircraft evaluated but not used operationally, ten captured aircraft types, and several other aircraft including gliders and ballistic missiles. The usual suspects are all here, like the Dassault Mirage and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, but there are also many unique and interesting aircraft, such as the Douglas DC-5. Each aircraft has an overview of the type in Israeli service, along with any photos of the plane in Israeli markings. These photos include some real rarities, like a camouflaged Vultee BT-13, or a Piaggio P.149 in Ugandan camouflage with Israeli markings.

The amount of research put into this book is phenomenal and puts this title into a must-have section of the modeler's library. The broad diversity of aircraft shows just how an air force can utilize whatever it takes to succeed. Reading through the hundreds of pages of text will put the Israeli Air Force in a new light and provide the modeler with plenty of interesting subjects to build. Although the price might discourage some, the content more than makes up for it and anyone interested in the Israeli Air Force should not hesitate to pick this book up. My thanks to Specialty Press for the review copy.