Reviewed by "Bondo" Phil Brandt

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron.com

Driven by the Cold War, American missile development in the early 1950s moved at a furious pace, and Boeing’s rocket-launched, ramjet-powered surface-to-air missile, the BOMARC (IM-99 “Sentinel”), joined other systems such as the Army’s Nike family to defend North America’s skies. The BOMARC was relatively long-lived, finally bowing out in 1972.

Austin (TX) DVD producer James Duffy has added another interesting volume to the eclectic rocket.aero stable. Many of the DVD’s chapters are necessarily silent archival (B&W and color) film including: construction, maintenance, testing, transport, and even a spectacular launch failure of the BOMARC.

The DVD’s “Bonus Section” offers an interesting color film w/audio featuring the 1950 “USAF Guided Missile Review” of such systems as the Razon/Tarzon guided bombs, as well as the Rascal, Shrike, Matador, Snark, Navajo and, of course, the BOMARC.

In an audio-only “Modelers Notes” portion of the “Bonus Section” James discusses BOMARC kits then (Monogram/Revell/Aurora) and now (Estes).

At the end of the DVD is a “slide show” of some twenty-eight, mostly color, shots of various BOMARC activities and even a construction plan for a balsa/aluminum, Jetex-powered (solid fuel) flying model.

Rocket.aero has done it again! By releasing yet another historical DVD of a fascinating, totally esoteric subject, it’s a no-brainer for modelers of all ages to widen their aviation horizons.

Recommended.

Review Copyright © 2007 by "Bondo" Phil Brandt
This Page Created on 21 May, 2007
Last updated 24 December, 2007

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page