Northrop YF-23 ATF (Air Force Legends, 220) Paperback – 7 Dec. 2016

A l'heure où les premières images de synthèse du SCAF nous montrent un appareil avec un empennage en V, il est intéressant de s'interroger sur l'échec du prototype YF-23 qui reprenait la même formule aéronautique.Cette brochure ne répond pas à la question et reste d'ailleurs relativement discrète sur certaines caractéristiques de l'appareil (capacité interne en carburant, poussée à sec, etc...).Sur ce type d'appareil furtif, l'intégration de l'armement pose aussi problème ainsi que l'ouverture des soutes à grande vitesse. La brochure s'étend aussi sur les errements du programme ATF qui a finalement abouti à deux prototypes plutôt esthétiquement réussis alors que les premiers croquis auraient pu faire craindre le pire.

Wenn ihr euch schon immer für Flugzeuge und Technik begeistert habt, dann ist dieses Buch definitiv etwas für euch! Die Northrop YF-23 ATF wird hier bis ins kleinste Detail beschrieben und ihr werdet die Entwicklungsgeschichte dieses Kampfjets lieben.Vor- und Nachteile: Der Autor hat sich wirklich viel Mühe gegeben, alle Aspekte des Flugzeugs zu beleuchten. Von der Konzeption über den Bau bis hin zum Testflug wird alles ausführlich erklärt. Die vielen technischen Details können jedoch auch etwas überwältigend sein, vor allem für diejenigen, die keine Vorkenntnisse haben. Aber hey, wer sich für ein solches Buch entscheidet, sollte sich darüber im Klaren sein, dass es hier nicht um leichte Lektüre geht.Fazit: Alles in allem ist "Northrop YF-23 ATF" ein fantastisches Buch für alle Flugzeug-Nerds da draußen! Der Autor bringt einem die faszinierende Technologie der Northrop YF-23 ATF auf eine humorvolle Art und Weise näher und es ist ein echtes Vergnügen, dieses Buch zu lesen. Wer Interesse an der Luftfahrt hat und tiefer in die Materie eintauchen möchte, der sollte dieses Buch auf jeden Fall lesen!

Splendid book. A table of contents would've made it a little more accessible.

At first glance this seems to be a typical Ginter publication. It's an 8-1/2" x 11", square bound card cover with 152 interior pages in the typical Ginter trade dress. But once you open the book you are in another world. The first thing that strikes the reader is the abundance of color. There is hardly a black and white photo to be found. I suspect that this book was commissioned by another publisher and the deal fell through for some reason. The book would not have been out of place in the old Midland Aerofax series.The book is written by YF-23 chief test pilot Paul Metz and his first hand experiences inform the text and captions throughout the book. But this isn't by any stretch of the imagination a "What was it like to fly the YF-23?" type of book. Metz covers the aircraft's historical background, development, flight test, proposals, and eventual preservation. He also provides an excellent description of the aircraft with many up close detailed photographs. But the real treat are the well chosen drawings all of which seem to be official from Northrup. The number of cross sections was truly remarkable.Complaints are few. I wish there had been more discussion of why the YF-22 was chosen over the YF-23 other than merely repeating the official line. If memory serves Lockheed took a different approach in the Dem/Val phase including actual test firing of missiles. Metz was surely aware of this but there is no post mortem of any kind. Did Northrup/McDonnell Douglas drop the ball at some point? Or was Lockheed's proposal that much better? Or was the decision a political one? I worked at GE Aircraft Engines at the time of the ATF decision and losing the engine competition to Pratt & Whitney was a bitter pill for a lot of people to swallow. Metz apparently does not want to delve into this.The book is highly recommended. I hope it does well enough for Ginter to rethink his policy of restricting color to the covers.

Firstly the book is excellent. You will not find a more in depth knowledge of the YF-23 and what it was like to fly and how Northrop designed and developed the aircraft. Lots of detailed pictures, many i haven't seen before. The two star rating comes from Book Depository. Why Amazon persist with them is beyond me. The book is damaged on the spine and back cover, unfortunately this is pretty typical of Book depository. Trying to get a refund or replacement is a joke, there customer service will run you in circles until you give up or only partially refund the amount.