F9F Panther Units of the Korean War (Combat Aircraft, 103)

An excellent job, as I would expect from Warren Thompson . He does not give a detailed history of the technical development of the aircraft. Nor should he. That has been treated elsewhere (see e.g.: Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar by Brad Edward, Specialty Press, 2010). Mr. Thompson sets out to discuss the units that flew the Panther and he properly concentrates on his chosen topic.I have only two "quibbles":One, the author makes the common error of misidentifying Marine regiments as divisions, see page 74 (with respect to the 7th Marines) and page 79 (with respect to the 5th Marines). These regiments were actually part of the 1st Marine Division. This problem may be caused by the fact that Marine regiments, unlike their Army counterparts, do not use the term "regiment" in their official designation; nor is their function (such as infantry or artillery) included in their designation. The other two regiments in the 1st Marine Division were the 1st Marines (an infantry formation) and the 11th Marines (an artillery formation).Two, the aircraft at plate # 7 on page 38 is identified as an F9F-2P, a photo recon version of the Panther. The markings are consistent with that version. However, the nose of the illustrated aircraft clearly shows the muzzles of 20mm cannon. It is my understanding that the four 20mm cannon of the fighter version were replaced by cameras in the nose of the photo version. All sources I have seen make that statement, including this book (see page 17). It would appear that the artist put the markings of an F9F-2P onto a standard F9F-2. Am I correct?Neither of these comments would cause me to give less than five stars for this book. I too would welcome a book on the F2H Banshee, especially by this author.

I like this book! I also realize the limitations of the format. Photo reproduction is good, although some are small, many are in color. Cover art is by Jim Laurier, (again). (Jim is a favorite aviation artist of mine.)I give it only four stars because I think Mr. Thompson missed an opportunity to go a step beyond other volumes written about the F9F Panther, (a very historically significant aircraft), by not writing about some of the missions of the famous, or soon to be famous, pilots that flew them. Although, he does mention John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and Ted Williams, almost in passing, it would have been nice to read about their normal operations, not just Ted's crash landing. If my memory still serves, Williams was flying as Glenn's wing-man on that mission when his aircraft was hit by AA.That said, I thank Mr. Thompson for writing this book on the F9F for the Osprey Combat Aircraft Series, (No. 103). The majority of writing on Korean war aircraft goes to the F-86 & MiG-15.The roll that Navy and Marine pilots and aircraft played in that conflict tends to be overshadowed. Don't let my one negative comment stop you from purchasing this book.

This book was a little disappointing because I was expecting a really rich background chapter on the development of the plane. I'm always curious about all the political, military, technological, and manufacturing processes that came together to build a fighter plane. I want to know how the F9F lived up to its expectations. Plus, I expect to see all the plane's features illuminated and laid out in detail. This book does not do those things. It does provide a huge amount of information about the plane's deployment and use by the Navy and Marines during the Korean War. There are pages of plates depicting individual F9F's, supported by detailed histories of each plane in the appendix. A chronological, somewhat monotonic, 'information please' depiction of the plane's use in Korea is inter-cut with narratives of individual missions. There is a load of information here, but the book is not as thoroughly engaging as I expected it to be.

Good overall for the aviation buff

good read, very informative

My Dad's squadron, VF-721, was featured in this book, so of course I loved it! Beautifully illustrated, accurate accounting of the Korean War experience. I'd like to know where I can get a copy of the cover photo. It's great.

Good account of F9F Panthers in the Korean War.

Excellent coverage of topic

The F9F was the USNs and USMCs replacement for the piston powered F8F Bearcat and an entry into the jet age. As such it got thrown into the Korean War in July 1950 and stayed as a presence to the very end in 1953, with credible successes in the fighter escort and much more importantly, the ground attack role.The book is divided into two main parts, with the former covering the USN use and the latter then switching over to the USMC experience. As with others in the series, you get a rich pictorial accompaniment (both in the form of period photographs as well as well executed colour plates), lots of first hand accounts from the pilots operating the type in Korea, and a good overview of the operations of each units that flew the type, even if you sometimes need to search for it (or rather read the book from cover to cover) to get it.The added speed and the relatively concentrated punch from its four 20mm cannons in the nose made it a surprisingly effective platform for suppressing enemy air defences and much of the role seems to have been just that in the later years - with some hunter killer operations involving tanks, trucks and trains thrown in. While combat air patrols and general fighter roles were also performed (in principle), it seems that effective combat with enemy air units almost did not take place.As such there were only five aerial victories recorded (in one engagement) and only a handful of losses appear to have been officially attributed to the presence of enemy fighters. Flak was much more of a threat, even if the official reporting appears to attribute the vast majority of the 110 or so lost (USN plus USMC) to technical issues, pilot error or fuel starvation.There are also some interesting factoids thrown in, such as the rather less illustrious early career of Neil Armstrong (of later NASA fame) - he got shot down.Overall a very good start to covering the combat operations of this early jet type, on which there is much less material available than on the more illustrious F-84s or F-86s.

This volume is well up to Osprey Combat Aircraft's usual high standards. The text is detailed, informative and lively with a interesting cast of characters (John Glenn and Neil Armstrong among others); the photos are superb - many in beautiful Kodachrome. I own several other books by the author (including a signed copy - thanks!), and nobody comes close to Warren Thompson's level of knowledge on the Korean air war. Highly recommended!

As with all this series it provides a good overview of the type and the conflict. It seemed a little light on the thing that make this series valuable, that is the personal recollections and/or the after action reports. Not that there aren't any just not as many as in some others.The illustrations are up to the usual high standards and inspiring if you happen to be a scale modeller.Over good but not great.

REALLY FANTASTIC BOOK,SO VERY INTERESTING.

GREAT.