Dassault Mirage F1 Book Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

Many good publishers have a series of monographs in their line-up to deal with specialty subjects, and Histoire & Collections Publications is no exception. In their 'Planes and Pilots' series, there are 10 monographs of aircraft from various eras and parts of the globe. In this series 'Materials of the French Air Force', this is the sixth installment. The first five cover MD 450 Ouragan, Sepecat Jaguar, Mirage F1C and F1B, P-47 Thunderbolt, and Mirage IV. This title is part two of the Mirage F1 coverage and deals with the Mirage F1CR and Mirage F1CT.

While the Mirage F1C was designed for the air-to-air role and easily outperformed the Mirage III, the airframe had significant promise for other missions. The F1CR was the reconnaissance version while the F1CT was the tactical strike aircraft that still retained the ability to defend itself air-to-air. The F1B was the dedicated two-seat trainer version.

This title, written in French, covers the history, capabilities, and operations of the F1CR/F1CT variants, including the usual export designation variations like F1EQ, F1AR, etc. The title is filled with excellent color photos and color profiles, so even if your French is a little rusty (or non-existent), this title will be an excellent reference for modelers looking for unusual camouflage and markings for their next Mirage F1 project.

The title also has some nice color shots of the cockpit and other close-ups around the airframe to provide the modeler with the right look of the operational airframe. In addition to the coverage of the variants and camouflage used by each Mirage F1 user around the world, there are also some breath taking shots of commemorative and anniversary color schemes worn by the F1.

Whether you read French or not, this title is definitely a must-have for the Mirage F1 modeler and is reasonably priced for that purpose.

My sincere thanks to Casemate Publishing for this review sample!