After a very successful start with the first Viper Story, Jake has set to task to release part two. Since his first book came out, he has released several other tittles before completing this sequel. They include books The Modern Viper Guide, The Modern Hog Guide and The Modern Eagle Guide.
Jake has refined the layout and format of this book to top notch standards. See sample pages below. Fitting art work, side profiles, badges and graphics are used throughout the book to accent each unit.
Jake’s first book covered the ANG and its history, to which it succeeded entirely, but Jake felt the book was missing action shots with a human element. Although some history is provided in the text, the book largely focuses on recent photographs.
Jake has a unique offering in his work that I find you do not see in other publications. Because Jake is his own publisher, he has much more control over content. Jake balances interests of enthusiasts, modelers and military personnel.
At the time of writing this review, I have studied the F-16 for nearly 20 years and have had a great deal of interest in both the testing and training side of F-16 operations. Much of what is missed in many books is detailed functions of test and training squadrons. I read with eagerness and found I was able to learn much from this book. Consider the relatively new to F-16 and unknown 445th FLTS at Edwards AFB and the work done by F-16s at Eglin AFB. How many books detail the courses of F-16 training squadrons?
Under the training preface Jake has included the aggressor squadrons which even covers the newly formed 18th AS with photos of the unique artic aggressor aircraft with black, white and grey paint scheme.
With 182 pages packed with both many action photos and plenty of helpful text. I highly recommend this book as I believe anyone with an interest for the F-16 will be satisfied. As with the first book, again now I cannot wait till the next release.
A copy can be ordered directly from the publisher (reidairpublishing.com), author (jakemelampy.net/books.html), on-line retailers (amazon.com) and local book stores.
Jonathan Somerville
F-16.net editor
