African MiGs

MiGs and Sukhois in Service in Sub Saharan Africa
By Tom Cooper
SHI Publications, ©2004
ISBN 3-200-00088-0
Softbound, 158 Pages

Reviewed by Will Perry

Information regarding aviation in Africa has often been elusive for the modeler. The Internet and globalization have opened things up considerably, especially with regard to civil aviation (check out the magnificent Airliners.net). But information on military aircraft remains scarce – many African nations have small air forces, there are relatively few outside visitors and security can be grimly strict. One group that has mined this murky material is the Air Combat Information Group. Their wonderful and immense website can be found at https://www.acig.org/. Tom Cooper has contributed a magnificent four-part article on Sub-Saharan MiGs and Sukhois, containing around 60 nicely done, captioned color profiles.

Tom has expanded upon this material to create a print publication – African MiGs. The book is soft-cover, well constructed, with 158 nicely printed pages. There are post-war histories, anecdotes, serial number lists, aerial victory tables and color and marking notes. The length of the verbiage varies from country to country, depending, of course, on how much info is known. Angola gets 16 pages, Namibia gets 1/2. Most of the plates and captions are the same as those on the ACIG website, though the book throws in some tasty extras. In the histories and the captions, the author is honest enough to point out hazy info or speculation.

The book’s shortcomings often revolve around the hazy nature of the material – the details left out can be frustrating, and scant material is often recycled or stretched. There’s a fair amount of sloppy editing, ala Squadron/Signal. Much of the text for each country is devoted to political and military histories. Those with a historical bent may enjoy these – modelers will probably get bored reading about dictators and interminable guerilla wars. Modelers of the exotic will drool over the color plates, though there’s the age-old dilemma inherent with profiles – what markings are on the wings? When profiles are based on a few fuzzy photos, there’s often not a good answer. Even though modelers will be a large percentage of this book’s market, the color prints make no attempt to depict plan details, even when such info is known. A nice selection of photos, even the fuzzy ones, would add support to the profiles, but the book contains nary a one. Another frustration is the limitation imposed by the title itself. What about all those cool F-5’s, Hunters, Mirages, etc.?

My biggest gripe about this book, however, is the $73.30 it cost me. Ouch! It was an easy acquisition – an email link from the ACIG website and a Paypal transfer. Several factors add up to a big price tag - quality production, small audience, Austrian publisher/printer and the piteous state of the American dollar.

I’m delighted to have this book – it’s like a fat catalog of exotic modeling projects. Though most of the color is available online, the book is more tangible (websites come and go – some old favorites are now just memories). The histories help place those exotic MiGs in their historical context. And, like many born in pre-digital times, I find a book easier on the eyes and more visually satisfying than a computer screen. I’d be even happier if the book had tighter editing, photos, plan views and a lower price.