Mirage III  Planes and Pilots No.6

A series from Histoire & Collections,France.

Mirage 5,50 and derivatives  From 1955-200

by Dominique Breffort and André Jouineau

Translated by Alan McKay.  ISBN: 2-913903-92-4

Product Article by Sinuhe Hahn

 

 

 

82 pages, 20x24 cm

The Mirage family us not well served by publications, especially not in English. As such it comes as no surprise that this volume has been translated from French, and is part of the excellent “Planes and Pilots” series from Histoire and Collection, Paris, France.  This volume is clearly geared at the modeller, as almost half the content consists of colour profiles. So what is in the package and how does it shape up?
The 82 page booklet offers a 3 page introduction to the Mirage development from the Mystère, via the MD 550 “Delta Mystère” in various guises to the final Mirage IIIA 01. The difference between these various variants is clearly presented in a series of profiles, as well as a number of useful photos.

The first production variant, the Mirage IIIC occupies a significant part of the book (15 pages), of which 12 are devoted to a series of profiles depicting aircraft is usage by the French Air Force, the Israeli Air Force and the South African Air Force (SAAF), the only other major user of the type, and who also used this variant operationally to great effect in Angola. Only 1 Mirage IIIC was used by the Swiss Air Force for evaluation of the type (not portrayed). These profiles will certainly be a handy reference for anybody wishing to a build a slightly different model from the excellent Eduard kit. Like, all profiles, they should be used with a degree of caution, as they do not provide any external changes which took place during the lengthy service of these aircraft in their respective services. In this manner, although the book does provide details about the last air superiority grey scheme employed by SAAF Mirage IIIC’s, it does not indicate that these aircraft were equipped chaff / flare dispenser in the belly strake (refer to: http://kits.kitreview.com/mirageiiicjreviewsh_1.htm). 

It, however, to its credit does indicate that several Israeli Mirage IIICJ’s were re-engined at the end of their lengthy combat careers. Of particular interest to those modellers wishing to build a SAAF version of their Eduard kit, the book contains a photo of Mirage IIICZ in dark green and tan camouflage which completely dispels with the incorrect dark earth and tan camouflage scheme Eduard have depicted in their instructions. This once again indicates that even colour photos should be interpreted with caution!

The next chapter is devoted to the Mirage IIIE, possibly the most widely used variant, and again has a number of pages devoted to profiles and photos of this aircraft in service with the air forces of France, Argentina, Australia (including the ARDU Fanta scheme), Lebanon, Pakistan, Spain, Switzerland (with canards) and Venezuella. Oddly, the SAAF have been left out of this section, even though they operated a number of Mirage IIIEZ’s operationally in combat. Further sections of the book address the Mirage 5 and 50, the recce versions and the two seaters (both B and D versions). Again, these are complemented by a good set of photographs, many of which I have not seen before (such as a SAAF IIIRZ prior to its delivery). Of further particular interest is an excellent photo of a Mirage 5 in Saudi Arabian markings (for diplomatic reasons) prior to it’s shipping to Egypt. The camouflage schemes depicted in a number of profiles do, however, look somewhat suspicious, and as such I urge any reader to carefully check his references and use photos as a definite guide. 
The penultimate section of this very informative small booklet is devoted possibly to the most interesting Mirage variants, The Israeli Kfir and the SAAF Cheetah. Apart from one of two odd translation errors (Cheetah does not mean Leopard in SA), this section contains a lot of useful information, supported by photos and profiles, which will be a great help to modellers wishing to build any of these variants.
The last section, which is kept very brief, deals with Mirage variants which did not make it past the prototype or drawing board stage, such as the VTOL Mirage IIIV 01 Balzac and the odd Milan with its peculiar moustache.

Click on images below to see larger images

Mirage III 2 seater schemes SAAF MirageIIICZ 800 correct camo

All in all, this is a superb little book, which costs little more than the average Squadron and signal publication, and which will be a great resource to lovers of this wonderful little French delta. Now Eduard, please role out the rest of the family.

Sinuhe

Photos and text © by Sinuhe Hahn