The Phantom in Focus : A Navigator's Eye on Britain's Cold War Warrior (Hardcover)

There have been many outstanding accounts of the Phantom so when I began my own contribution I wanted to avoid the conventional format. I focussed on the British F4M version which is the one I flew, in its role as a fighter. My aim was not to write a technical book but rather to share some stories which showed the aircraft and crews at work and how the Phantom fitted in. Hopefully, the few areas where I dug a little deeper will interest the enthusiasts but the majority of the book just reflects life for a navigator on the squadron and the operational conversion unit. Most importantly, the book includes many photographs which I took over the years which show the Phantom in its true environment, many of which are now over 30 years old. I follow my path as a typical “Phantom Phlyer” from the early days learning to operate the aircraft, through squadron conversion and onto the squadron as an operational navigator. I then looked at how the Phantom fitted into the air defence system during the Cold War. In doing this, I discussed how we used the aircraft on operations and training, the places we deployed such as Germany, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands and, inevitably, discussed how many Phantoms and their crews were lost. I also shared my view on how we compared to our Cold War opponents like the Mig-21 and the Mig-23. During my days on the squadron, I witnessed some sobering events such as the shooting down of a Jaguar bomber by one of our own Phantoms, the loss of a Phantom while filming for a high profile BBC documentary and how one of our Phantoms managed to fly a circuit wrapped in the airfield arrestor barrier. If you ever wonder how to intercept another aircraft flying at night using a radar scope it's in there, along with how you can fly a pair of Phantoms from the Falkland Islands to the UK for a routine service. The book would not have been complete without looking at the weapons and how we trained to use them. In conclusion, I tracked down some of the airframes I had flown and captured their final resting places, mostly now in museums or as gate guardians. The pictures I used, taken both on the ground and in the cockpit, hopefully, capture the journey. With the demise of the Phantom, none of them can be repeated. As I said in the book, You could love the Phantom or hate the Phantom but you could never ignore the Phantom. I hope you enjoy the read.