U.S. Naval Air Superiority: Delevelopment of Shipborne Jet Fighters - 1943-1962

Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1580071104
Manufacturer: Specialty Pr Pub & Wholesalers
Average Customer Review: (From 2 total reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description:
As World War II came to a close, piston-powered fighter aircraft were at their zenith, and Navy fighters, such as the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought Corsair, dominated the skies over the Pacific. As these fighter designs reached their peak, a new propulsion technology was being developed that held great promise. When introduced, the first jet aircraft were underpowered, and in many ways inferior to propeller-driven aircraft of the time. Naval Air Superiority examines the Navy’s internal struggle to adapt the jet engine to its style of warfare as well as the development and evolution of carrier-borne fighters and their airframes and engines, from the closing days of World War II through Vietnam.
For the first time, U.S. Naval Air Superiority profiles the turbulent design and development stage of the Navy’s carrier-based jet fighter program. From the successful designs, such as the Fury, Banshee, Crusader, and Phantom II, to the also-rans, like the Fireball, Demon, Pirate, and Cutlass, the Navy’s needs are measured against contractor and political demands and the limits of the evolving engine and aerodynamic technologies of the day.
This book includes engine cut-aways, aircraft comparison diagrams, and details the safety improvements made to aircraft carriers to enable higher speed and high-gross-weight jet operations.

Customer Reviews

Superior Book on Developing Superiority by W. L. McRae
This is an excellent must read book for anyone interested in the Navy’s jet fighter development from its start thru about 1960. The book is not about statistics as Mr. Thomason says. The book is describing an era and pretty much all that it encompassed for its subject. He goes into detail on how each program came about, how the contracts were awarded, the development of each type to service or cancellation. There is a tremendous amount of information that leads one to understanding of the times and how quickly things were developing. I would not consider the chapters dealing with armament and carrier development with the adoption of the British steam catapult, “canted” deck, and mirror landing system as side trips as each had a direct effect on carrier aircraft design.

There are only three chapters out of fifteen that deal with a specific aircraft and it’s understandable that the planes are the F7U, F4D, and F3H as the sum up the problems of defining a mission and manufacturing that the Navy was encountering at the time. The Panthers, Banshees, Cougars, Furies, Tigers, and Crusaders are explained in detail too. One interesting nugget of information concerns the F7U Cutlass. The Cutlass was known for breaking its long nose strut in service and being a hard aircraft to land on a carrier. Mr. Thomason points out the last cruises the Cutlass went on didn’t have the accident rate on landing that its reputation making first cruises did. This corresponded to being on carriers with an angled deck so a pilot had a clear deck in front of him and with no need to slam down on the deck to land. Besides its Westinghouse engines the plane was a victim of timing. The book is filled with uncommon information like that. The only things that I noticed that seemed missed were the J79 in connection with the F5D and the development of the Sidewinder 1C beam rider that helped the F8U-2NE play interceptor to replace the F3H on the Essex-class carriers. My impression based on the rest of the book is that it was most likely there but edited out to get the page count right.

This is an impressive book using some of the best resources on the subject such as George Spangenberg. The last naval aviation book that read where I thought the author really described the subject really well was Michael O’Connor’s”Mig Killers of Yankee Station” this book is similarly as detailed in its subject. Mr. Thomason you’ve written the “A Number 1″ book on Navy fighter development 1943-1962, thank you.

Looks like the first in a series of great aviation history books by Gregory K. Myers
This book is certainly much more than I expected. I would have been happy with a few color photos covering the jets of the fifties and sixties. .Looking through some of the many photos I did discover a few from other older books in my library, but they were few and far between and didn’t distract from the work. The interesting thing about the book is the many different chapters the book goes over. It’s not just chapter after chapter following one plane after another, but takes side trips to the whys and wherefores of some of the development and needs of the navy. One chapter covers the changing development of the carriers for example. I was disappointed to find no chapter covering the Grumman Cougar / Panthers. They were talked about in many of the other areas however. At any rate a beautiful work all the way up to the Phantom II. This isn’t something you’ll read through to fast. The ten by ten format is also nice.

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Tags: aerospace, aircraft carriers, airplane development, aviation, aviation history, early jets, naval, navy jet fighters, supersonic jets

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