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F-117A Nighthawk
Walk Around

By James Goodall

Color by Don Greer
Illustrated by Richard Hudson & Ernesto Cumpian

     

 

Squadron/Signal Publications

 

S u m m a r y
Catalogue Number: Walk Around Number 26
ISBN: 0-89747-425-2
Media: Soft cover, landscape format, 80 pages plus covers (incl. 40 pages in full colour).
Price: US$11.96 from Squadron.com
Review Type: First Read
Advantages: Perfect format for modellers; extravagant use of colour; packed with images; useful captions; excellent coverage of cockpit and pilot's seat; helpful scrap-view drawings to illustrate ordnance  and particular features; 9 colour profiles (including 3 black profiles!).
Disadvantages:  
Recommendation: Highly Recommended as a one-stop reference for anyone building a Nighthawk

 

Reviewed by Brett Green

 

F i r s t   L o o k

 

The F-117A Nighthawk was kept secret until its unveiling in the 1990 Gulf War, where it met considerable success in its role as a precision bomber. Even today, the US Air Force maintains a 20 foot barrier between the aircraft and any unauthorised personnel.

Despite this challenge, author Richard Hudson has compiled a very comprehensive picture of this famous yet still somewhat mysterious bird.

This book follows the Squadron Walk Around formula. In other words, it is packed full of relevant and well captioned photographs. The book is in landscape format, with 80 pages between its soft cardboard covers. Inside, the book presents two pages in black-and-white, then two in colour, for the whole 80 pages. The 40 full-colour pages are used to good effect with many detail and operational photos, nice colour profiles (although three of them do depict black aircraft), unit badges and detail illustrations. 

All the major (and most minor) details of the Nighthawk are well documented in high quality photographs. The book starts with a description of the officially non-existent Area 51 and a brief photo journey through the "Have Blue" project and YF-117A before moving onto the operational F-117A on page 10. The photo coverage of the Nighthawk starts at the nose-mounted pitot tubes, moving back to the FLIR/DLIR turrets, nose gear and forward gear bay, canopy, detailed photos of the cockpit (including the instrument panel and seat), mid-fuselage, bomb-bay and ordnance, main landing gear legs and bay, control surfaces, powerplant, braking parachute and tail surfaces. Various operational scenes are also included toward the back of the book.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Squadron/Signal's F-117A Walkaround will be a terrific one-stop reference for anyone planning to build any of the various Nighthawk's in 1/72, 1/48 or 1/32 scale. 

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.


F-117A Nighthawk Walk Around is available online from Squadron.com

Review Copyright © 2001 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 23 May, 2001
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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