RF-8 Crusader Units over Cuba and Vietnam

Osprey Combat Aircraft #12

by Peter B. Mersky

Although the Crusader was built first and foremost as a Navy interceptor, as has often been the tradition with US fighters, a photo-reconnaissance variant was also produced by Vought. The photo-bird's first operational test came in the autumn of 1962 when its overflights of Cuba alerted the world to the likely presence of medium-range ballistic missiles on the Caribbean island. The recce Crusader's next action came during the long years of the Vietnam War (1955-1975). This volume is the second of two in the Combat Aircraft series devoted to the Crusader, the first title (again by Peter Mersky) having covered the F-8 fighter variants, and their MiG-killing exploits, during the Vietnam War.

Genres: Aviation

98 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having owned this book for a very long time, the question has to be whether, being over twenty years old, this work is still worth reading. On the whole, I'd say it is, as at this point it counts as primary source material, seeing as Mersky is a contemporary to the men he is writing about, and was a U.S. Navy combat pilot himself. He certainly does not stint on all the personal and operational detail he can cram into 98 pages. In 1999 Mersky would have been, along with Barrett Tillman, considered "Mr. Naval Aviation" when it came to writing.

That said, there are little notes throughout the book that indicate a deep bitterness towards the outcome of America's war in Vietnam, as when Mersky vents about the bombing halt called by Lyndon B. Johnson, or his obvious disdain towards the anti-war protest movement in the United States. At the time of publication, Mersky certainly regarded the war as militarily winnable, which suggests to me a certain strategic naivete. Keep that in mind if you choose to read this work, which IS still useful otherwise.

Rounding up from 3.5.