Introduction

F-102 Delta Dagger in Detail & Scale is presented to modelers and historians as one of two recent books from Detail and Scale, a publishing company that has been producing high-quality technical and historical military aviation books since c.1978. F-102 Delta Dagger is presented through 108 pages, boasting 285 photographs (230 in color), color detail drawings and a full color aircraft profile. A wingman series is their Color and Marking series, which
includes Colors & Markings of the F-102 Delta Dagger, a book that covers every unit that
ever flew the Deuce in 127 pages with over 325 photos (239 in color), 48 full color aircraft
profiles and additional illustrations including paint diagrams.

Authors Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak bring some 60 years of first-hand military aviation expertise into the Detail and Scale brand. Roszak, a retired Air Force colonel, creates the illustrations in the books. Both are modelers, too.

Content is forged from both personal experience, experience of other military pilots and crews, official Air Force manuals, and other primary sources. Plenty of been-there-done-that insight. Detail and Scale book formats are available in print, plus eBooks for the Kindle and iBook.

I've read some Detail and Scale books before and found them impressive and yet never comprehended just how comprehensive they are until I started this review. Please, let me tell you about this book.

Content

F-102 Delta Dagger in Detail & Scale is a nuts and bolts volume. Through 108 pages the content is delivered through these chapters and sections:

Introduction
Developmental History
Arming the F-102
Delta Dagger Variants
YF-102 & YF-102A Prototypes
F-102A
TF-102A
F-102 Line Drawings
Flying the Deuce
The F-102 in Southeast Asia
Delta Dagger Details
Cockpit Details
Radar and Electronics Details
Windscreen and Canopy Details
Fuselage Detail
Weapons Bay Details
Wing Details
Landing Gear Details
Tail Details
Pave Deuce Drone Program
Modelers Sections

Detail & Scale first published a F-102 book in 1990. Twenty-seven years later the book is again available, expanded and enhanced in text and graphics, and offered in both digital formats and as a print.

Developmental History is 13 pages and several subsections overviewing the concepts, testing, improving, modifying, and service of the Dagger. Arming the F-102 explores the transition from guns to rockets and missiles, culminating in the Hughes AIM-4 Falcon, a missile that actually started out designated as a fighter aircraft! Weapons described are:

1. 2.75-Inch "Mighty Mouse" Rockets
2. Hughes Falcon Air-to-Air Missiles

Development of the missiles and guidance systems are explained, as well as warhead development - including nuclear warheads. Those weapon histories are told through 10 pages.

Next, through 16 pages we survey Delta Dagger Variants: YF-102 and YF-102A; F-102A; TF-102A. Each is described in good detail, including changes to the aircraft, even changes to rotating beacons!

Colors and markings are briefly covered as they are more comprehensively detailed in the companion book Colors and Markings of the F-102 Delta Dagger.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to fly a F-102? Dive into the nine pages of Flying the Deuce and The F-102 in Southeast Asia. The authors use the firsthand recollections of the incredible Major Ray Roberts (USAF Ret.), winner of a USAFE safety award for recovering a Deuce from a fault that killed the other pilots who encountered it. The Southeast Asia story is a narrative. Both parts are eminently fascinating.

Cockpit Details launches the segment of the book focused on Delta Dagger details sections. Each section is enhanced with photographs (color, and black-and-white) and artwork providing multiple views of components and parts. Cockpit Details features 23 photos, and 15 drawings and schematics (original and USAF) of instrument panels, consoles, etc., presented and explained on nine pages. Similar information for the other subjects are:

Radar and Electronics Details: 2 pages; 9 color photos
Windscreen and Canopy Details: F-102A and TF-102A: 4 pages; 14 color photos
Fuselage Detail: F-102A and TF-102A: 6 pages; 34 color photos
Weapons Bay Details: 3 pages; 16 color photos
Wing Details: Case X wing and Case XX wing, plus drop tanks, pylons, wing fence, control surfaces: 5 pages; 26 photos
Landing Gear Details: 6 pages; 29 photos
Tail Details: 1 page; 6 color photos

These sections provide modelers and historians an incredible visual resource for understanding and replicating the F-102.

All good things come to an end and so did the service of the F-102, often in a blaze of glory. Pave Deuce Drone Program presents the useful way the F-102 went out - being shot down for training purposes. Through four pages we learn of the justification and history of destroying obsolete aircraft as drones instead of scrapping and recycling them. Plenty of photos examining the subjects of the previous section add value to the text, and give the noble Delta Dagger a poignant goodbye.

Modelers, you are next - Modelers Section surveys what modelers have to choose from for a F-102. This section is 14 pages of concise model reviews of all the kit models, focusing on a kit histories, brands, scales, aftermarket offerings, and supporting products.

Accuracy characteristics for particular kits are pointed out, i.e., the date when TACAN antennas and IR sensors were fitted, to name a few components. It is important to understand what equipment was installed by serial number, and the authors' text and tables help with this information. All the better to help modelers model the best model possible.

F-102 models have been released in eight scales since 1953. That includes "box scale" models. Injection-molded Daggers are available in standard scales of 1/48, 1/72, and 1/144. A vacuform 1/32 Deuce was created but they are hard to find now. Each model is presented with photographs of boxart, parts and decals, and several completed models. Aftermarket items are mentioned, and strengths and weaknesses of each kit are discussed, e.g., flaws in one kit's missiles are displayed and discussed.

Such expertise of the authors should allow modelers to create the most accurate F-102 desired.

Photographs, Artwork, Graphics

Visual support of the text is outstanding. F-102 was an aircraft of the Ektachrome and Kodachrome era and vivid color photographs dominate this book. Fans of the latter-day versions of Paul Simon's song Kodachrome will be happy that a handful of photos are black-and-white. I have not counted the number of images but there are plenty; I note only one page without an image.

I did not notice a photo that is not studio quality. They are universally excellent, as are the following graphics.

A. Artwork and Illustrations
Using USAF manuals and original artwork, the text is well supported with illustrations and other graphics. Detail & Scale also created four full pages of black-and-white line art for the:

YF-102
YF-102A
F-102A
TF-102A
F-102A Port Side View (gear down)
F-102A Starboard Side View
TF-102A Port Side View
F-102A Top View
F-102A Bottom View
TF-102A Top View
TF-102A Bottom View

Each drawing has a scale bar in feet and meters. Further art includes:

1. Airplane General Arrangement: F-102 and TF-102 3-quarter, keyed to 25 components.

2. Chart: F-102 Squadrons 1956-1976, color coded for AAC, ADC, PACAF, USAFE, and ANG.

3. Falcon missile, first version, XF-98, YGAR-1, GAR-1, AIM-4: three views with dimensional data.

4. GAR-1D/AIM-4A official marking and dimensional data: four views, with color bands explained.

5. XGAR-1B/GAR-2/AIM-4B/GAR-2A/AIM-4C official marking and dimensional data: two views.

6. AIM-4D Falcon: four profiles with two rotational aspects from nose and tail, showing complete painting and marking data.

7. Full page: AIM-26 Falcon: AIM-26 A and -B, five profiles, two-each nose and tail aspects, with detailed dimension and marking data.

8. YF-102 Dimensional and General Arrangement Drawings, accompanied with Block and serials for the YF-102 and YF-102A. Color-coded cutaway and five line drawings.

9. F-102A Dimensional and General Arrangement Drawings, accompanied with Block and serials for F-102As. Color-coded cutaway and five line drawings.

10. TF-102A Dimensional and General Arrangement Drawings, accompanied with Block and serials for the TF-102A. Color-coded cutaway and five line drawings.

11. Profile F-102A 56-1060, 1LT Ray Roberts, Bitburg AFB, 1959.

12. Cockpit Details
a. F-102
- Cockpit General Arrangement
- F-102 Ejection Seat
- Instrument Panel (Typical): two variants, keyed to 48 items
- Control Yoke, 13 components
- Left Console, keyed to 9 items
- Right Console, keyed to 11 items

b. TF-102A
- TF-102A Cockpit General Arrangement keyed to 12 items
- Pilot's Instrument Panel (Typical): two variants, keyed to 44 items
- Instructor Pilot's Instrument Panel (Typical): two variants, keyed to 14 items
- Left (Pilot's) Console, keyed to 7 items
- Center Console, keyed to 11 items
- Right (Instructor's) Console, keyed to 5 items

B. Charts and tables

1. F-102 Blocks and Serials
2. F-102A Weights and Conditions
3. F-102A Electronics
4. F-102A performance and conditions for three different missions (with qualifiers)
- Point Intercept
- Area Intercept
- Ferry
5. TF-102 Blocks and Serials
6. TF-102A Weights and Conditions
7. TF-102A performance and conditions for three different missions (with qualifiers)
- Point Intercept
- Area Intercept
- Ferry
8. Southeast Asia F-102s
- Date Operational
- Unit
- Base
9. F-102 Vietnam Ordnance Loads
- Date
- Ordnance
Those graphics strongly enhance not only the text but also enjoyment of reading this book.

Conclusion

Detail in Scale has produced with F-102 Delta Dagger in Detail & Scale a thorough and detailed overview of this important Century Series interceptor with comprehensive content presented by experts in military aviation.

Modelers and historians should be satisfied with the level of information presented. The exploration of interior components and special equipment should be especially appreciated. The chapter on models should be particularly interesting to modelers.

The gallery of photographs, illustrations, and data graphics robustly enhance the text.

I do not have any meaningful criticism of this book and happily recommend it to modelers and students of the Convair Delta Dagger, Century Series fighters, jet interceptors, and Cold War fighters.

You can find out more about this and other Detail and Scale publications at their website:
www.detailandscale.com.