BAe Hawk (Modern combat aircraft) Hardcover – January 1, 1985

Published in 1985, this book - number 20 in the Ian Allan series called Modern Combat Aircraft - covers the design, development and early service introduction of the RAF's current and significant fast jet trainer. It is objectively written by a respected aviation author, and is clearly intended for a readership who require more than a superficial history of this aircraft.The coverage is extensive and therefore very detailed, including detailed desrciptions of the various units/squadrons that were using the Hawk at the time of publication, including overseas operators. The text is illustrated with numerous black-and-white and full colour photographs. There are also numerous line diagrams, though no detailed three-view orthographic illustrations.Whilst this book comes highly recommended for readers of serious military aviation historian, the one criticism must be the poor quality of paper on which the book has been printed. Whilst this is typical of many books published by Ian Allan at this time, this does not excuse the use of paper that prevents quality photographs being shown to their best advantage.Considering the Hawk T1 and T1A will be retired within the next five years or so, this book will quickly become a collector's item, even though fast jet trainers might not have the same appeal as frontliners!