Planes

This new collection is devoted to the planes used during the five last decades by the USN and USAF. With this first volume, Frédéric Lert presents the career of the one of the US Navy’s most legendary planes, the F-14 Tomcat, Tom Cruise’s mount in the very famous film, Top Gun. From its appearance in 1972 to its withdrawal from service in 2006, this formidable fighter has flown through thirty years of history in the air. All the models – including those sold to the Iranians before the 1978 Revolution – as well as all the carrier-borne units which used them are shown, described and analysed in this book. Foreign operations, weapons, anecdotes, nothing is left in the shadows. More than 200 often unpublished photos and more than 40 profiles illustrate this tribute paid to Grumann’s last Cat.

The "other" IIIrd Reich fighter is a symbol of technology as well as sturdyness. A mythical plane, the FW 190 appeared in 1941 and, from then, was to be a real problem to Allied air forces. From the Eastern front to the Defence of the Reich, not to forget the Normandy campaign, the fighter that the last German aces flew with distinction, is illustrated in all its variety of camouflage schemes and markings.