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Aircraft in Detail 2

F-15I Ra'am
in IAF Service

by

Ra'anan Weiss

   

Isradecal Publications

 

S u m m a r y

Catalogue Number: F-15I Ra'am
ISBN:  
Contents and Media: 84 pages
Price:  
Review Type: FirstLook
Advantages: Excellent coverage of the type in text, photos and profiles
Disadvantages:  
Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

Reviewed by David W. Aungst


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FirstRead

 


Getting information about the Israeli Air Force has been problematic for years. Understandably, security concerns have to be addressed, but this has made it difficult and sometimes impossible to get solid information on Israeli aircraft.

IsraDecals has introduced a line of books that have started to role back the shroud over this secretive air arm.

There latest book release is on the F-15I Ra'am. They announced the book's release on the back cover of the F-15I decals that came out over Christmas of 2005. Today, I got a copy dropped into my hot little hands by the postman. It has been a while since a new book has gotten me this fired up. This book is fabulous!

The Book

The book is the same style of printing and paper as the F-16I book that was released at the IPMS Nationals in 2005. The paper is glossy, heavy stock. All the images are 100% color. I did not count them all, but I think there are about 250 to 300 images in the book. Below is a selection of pages for your enjoyment.

 

Cover Page
Click to Enlarge
Cover Page
Overall Images
Click to Enlarge
Overall Images
Cockpit Details
Click to Enlarge
Cockpit Details
Weapons Details
Click to Enlarge
Weapons Details
Rear Cover Page
Click to Enlarge
Rear Cover Page
 

The following are some specifics about the book.

  • The book is 84 pages in length, counting both the front and back covers.
     
  • All the photographs are in color.
     
  • The book is divided into sections:
     
    • Pages 1 through 11 discuss the F-15I development and delivery to Israel.
    • Pages 12 through 19 chronicals in pictures various deployments the F-15I aircraft have made outside Israel, including a trip to participate in a Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB in the United States in 2004.
    • Pages 20 through 29 are a photo gallery showing many images of the F-15I in use around Israel -- lots of takeoff, landing, and flight shots in this section.
    • Pages 30 and 31 hold four detailed markings diagrams of various F-15I Ra'am. Two of these show the large eagle head markings applied to the tails. See below.

 

Markings Diagrams

 

    • Pages 32 through 43 have many images of the F-15I during daily routine usage and being maintained. The images in this section in particular are great to see as they show typical usage of the aircraft. There are lots of ideas in this section for great dioramas of F-15I Ra'am.
    • Pages 44 through 84 are full of detail images that take apart every part of the airframe, starting with two-page spreads of images for each cockpit. Another two pages of images deal solely with the ejection seats. Then, the next few pages show practically every inch of the exterior of the airframe -- the GPS dome, the flare/chaff buckets, the CFT pylons, all three wheel wells in excruciating detail. Then, the last few pages cover various weapons, including a live AGM-142 Popeye and some good clear images of live Python-4 and AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles.
  • Tucked into the back of the book are two fold-out pages of full 1/48 scale and 1/72 scale five-view drawings. These are drawn by Willy Peters and look outstanding.

 

 

Conclusion

 

I do not think there are enough positive adjectives in the English language to really describe this book -- great, super, fabulous, terrific, fantastic, and any others you can think of. If you love the F-15I Ra'am or are just a nut about all things Israeli, this book is definitely for you. The IsraDecals web site lists the book at $30.00 (US). For what is provided by this book, it is worth every penny (IMHO).

 

Highly Recommended

Review sample kindly provided by Isradecal. 


Text Copyright © 2006 by David W. Aungst
This Page Created on 07 March, 2006
Last updated 06 March, 2006

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