Detail & Scale produced its first book on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in 2004 when what is today’s principle combat aircraft of the U. S. Navy was just entering operational fleet service. Since then, the history of the Super Hornet has expanded remarkably, and in 2010, the EA-18G Growler was introduced. This new work, F/A-18E & F/A-18F Super in Detail & Scale: Also Includes the EA-18G Growler, brings our original work forward sixteen years, with nearly all-new content, more photographs (all in color), and the addition of new artwork. The photographic content includes work by some of the best aviation photographers along with material from U. S. Navy and Boeing archives. These are complemented by 180 photographs taken specifically for this book which are available nowhere else. This new book is an up-to-date, far more comprehensive, and much larger publication on the U.S. Navy’s Super Hornet and Growler.
The book begins with an overview of the developmental history of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which emerged from a response to key shortcomings of the otherwise successful F/A-18 “Legacy” Hornets. The next chapter provides a comprehensive synopsis of the aircraft’s structure and systems including avionics, radars and sensors, powerplant, armament, and other stores. This is followed by an all-new chapter on the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare (EW) variant, covering its development and the key features of its unique EW systems. The next chapter provides an up-to-date operational history of the Super Hornet and Growler from the flight test program to the aircraft’s contributions in Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, and INHERENT RESOLVE. This section also features an account of the Super Hornet’s first air-to-air kill in 2017 with several photographs of the aircraft that scored the kill. Australian F/A-18Fs and EA-18Gs are also covered in this chapter. The F/A-18E/F and EA-18G still have at least another two decades of service ahead. The next chapter of the book outlines future Super Hornet and Growler developments from the forthcoming Block III upgrade to the Next Generation Jammers for the EA-18G. Photo galleries of some of the more notable Super Hornet and Growler paint schemes over the last two decades follow.
A comprehensive chapter on Super Hornet and Growler details, long the hallmark of the Detail & Scale Series, comes next. This chapter contains twelve sections covering the cockpit, including ejection seats and aircrew flight gear, windscreen and canopy, fuselage, landing gear, wings, tails, engines, ordnance, sensors, fuel tanks, refueling pods, the EA-18G’s electronic warfare equipment, and more. Complete coverage of almost every square inch of the Super Hornet and Growler is provided in this section through more than 200 high resolution photographs and illustrations, most of which were taken by the two authors.
As with all Detail & Scale books, the final chapter covers scale models of the Super Hornet and Growler. When the first edition was released in 2004, there were very few kits available of what was then a new aircraft. Today, there exists a far more diverse field of F/A-18E/F and EA-18G kits. The standard modeling scales of 1/144th, 1/72nd, 1/48th, and 1/32nd are treated as separate sections and the available kits are reviewed. This section also features photos of built Super Hornet and Growler kits from a number of accomplished model builders.
F/A-18E & F/A-18F Super Hornet in Detail & Scale: Also Includes the EA-18G Growler, is an extensively detailed look at the U. S. Navy’s premier combat aircraft with the most up-to-date
information on the Super Hornet and Growler available. This digital version features 240 pages, 306 high resolution digital photographs, and five illustrations.
