Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Jaguar Boys

Subtitle: True Tales from Operators of the Big Cat in Peace and War

Author: Ian Hall

Narrator: Roger Davis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-29-16

Publisher: Grub Street Publishing LTD

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Originally intended as a trainer, the Anglo-French Sepecat jet, equipped with the very latest in weapon-aiming and navigational equipment, eventually became the backbone of the RAF's tactical strike-attack and recce forces for a decade from the mid-1970s. In these minutes, the Jaguar Boys - pilots, engineer, and ground crew - tell of the aircraft's drawbacks and joys, their sadness at losses, and their pleasure at its development into a readily deployable and outstandingly capable fighter-bomber for the post-Cold War era.

Then came the Gulf War, which signaled the start of a hectic sequence of operational adventures and upgrades for the "Boys", and seasoned veterans tell of action over Iraq and in the Balkans. One of the best-loved of RAF types, the Jaguar commanded a fierce loyalty and affection, which shines through in these accounts of an aircraft that will live forever in the memory.

Members Reviews:

A Well-Told Tale of the Little Jet that Could

I know, I was there. As a USAF exchange officer, I was posted to 226 OCU, on staff as a QWI, instructing in the conversion coure as well as the QWI course shortly after the introduction of the Jaguar to RAF service. I was acquainted with nearly all the individuals mentioned in the early chapters and can attest to the accuracy thereof. This book is really about two subjects; the Jaguar aircraft and the men, referred to strangely as "boys," who flew her.

If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, the Jag was the aeronautical analog. Intended to be a trainer, a first line attack aircraft, a recce bird, and an aircraft carrier based fighter, it was a strange jet indeed. Never serving aboard ship, the jet lugged around the massive undercarriage required to adsorb naval landing shocks and arrested stops. The French Air Force named it, "Le tracteur le plus rapide du monde." The cockpit was an ergonometric nightmare. Reheat/afterburner switches on the canopy rail! Despite this, as the contributors to the book write, the Jaguar was a delight to fly at low level. One hour + 45 at 250' AGL, 480 KIAS was always at hand. The book relates in detail how the original airframe was continually updated over its 30+ year service life until it became a highly effective ground attack aircraft, giving good account of itself in several hot conflicts.

The other part of the story in this book is about RAF Jaguar pilots, men who took the hands dealt them and made them winners. I remember my squadron mates as being articulate and well spoken, masters of the English language. Their accounts in this book reflect that judgement, the book is a delight to read, you feel you are in th cockpit, the crew room, and the bar with them. The editing is superb, the stories well-told.

You will never experience flying 100' above a Scottish loch at 480 KIAS and looking up at a red deer buck on a cliff face above you, watching your swift passage, but this book will let you know what it was like.

My only criticism is the absence of any contribution by the other major user of the Jaguar, the French Air Force other than a short blurb by a French pilot on exchange duty with the RAF. Surely the French have a few tales to tell about the Jaguar.