Apologies if I am repeating info already posted - I did a search and couldn't find anything, although I know I have seen something somewhere about the second book.

Amazon UK are selling both these for a total of less than £20. There's a link to a video about the second book which I'm sure most of you will find interesting.

Has anyone read these? I'll try and get hold of them, and they look fascinating, but I have blwon my fun money this month already. The first is about UK Army Apaches (and Chinnooks) operating in Helmand province, and the second is specifically about one rescue mission. The pilot on that one was a paratrooper until he had an accident, managed to learn to fly Gazelles for the Army Air Corps but didn't feel there was enough action/soldiering in it, so converted to Apaches...

I hadn't heard about these book, so thanks for the tip!

Not many books from Apache pilots out there, so should be interesting They both seem to be just released, so doubt there is much discussion here about them yet.

Asda in the UK has got "Apache Dawn" for £10 if you prefer to buy from a "bricks and mortar" seller. Plus you can just slip it into the weekly shopping trolley and act innocent when you get to the till!

The other day I saw Apache (Ed Macy) reduced in WH Smiths...

Cheers

Thanks for the tip!
I ordered "Ed Macy-Apache" right now. I´m eagerly to read personal experiences flying the Apache.

im currently about three quaters through apache by ed macy and i can tell u all that its a bloody good book. it really goes into the operation of the westland apache mk1. id recommend this book to anyone interested in combat aviation

Same for me

And yes, it's certainly interesting to read how the Apache is actually used in todays' conflicts.

reading this book has really sparked my interest in eech so that all im flying these days lol

I just started Ed Macy's Apache two days ago, it grips you from the start. Enjoying it so far, it's a great insight into how these machines are used IRL and the kind of skill, dedication and training that goes into mastering them.

Just finished it last night. And while the first part as I said was interesting, the last mission was truely extrordinary! I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it yet, but you have something to look forward to

One thing I found interesting was that author flew both in the front and back seat, and it changed from mission to mission depending on what was needed and wishes of the CO (whom he often flew with in the other seat). Though he does mention that he and the CO were two of the few pilots qualified to fly both seats so that may have something to do with it The gunner fired Hellfires, the pilot rockets. The gun was fired by the gunner if TADS was used for targeting, but the pilot sometimes used it with the helmet mounted sight.

Some other observations (shouldn't contain any spoilers, except general observations about common missions). They hardly ever used the radar, I guess that's a result of mostly fighting just infantry. It was all TADS for targeting. They never carried as much weapons as the Apache is capable of carrying. A common load seemed to be 300 rounds of cannon ammunition, 24 rockets and 2 Hellfires (laser variant, it was never mentioned any use of the radar variant). But they did carry more fuel than standard Apaches (part of it in what used to hold the remaining 900 cannon rounds). The Hellfires were mostly used for buildings, or when precision was needed.

The missions would mostly be in support of ground troops. One thing I noted was that when ground troops got support from aircraft they would tell the aircraft where the enemy was and where they wanted a strike. Then the aircraft would do one of more strike runs and leave. The Apaches would be told approximately where the enemy was, then was able to look for them themselves with FLIR much better than the ground troops. And they would often remain there in support as long as needed or fuel and weapons lasted which could be around two hours. There was only one base for and a huge area to provide support for, so the flight times to base were often fairly long (30-45 minutes or so each way).

They usually flew at outside of smallarms range at 3000 feet, but at times also at low level, 30-50 feet. The most common threat was small arms fire and unguided RPG rockets. The Taliban rarely had big caliber weapons or MANPADs.

Very interesting. I'm going to order Ed Macy - Apache as well.

I guess this was all about Ed Macy - Apache, right? What are your reviews about that other book, Damien Lewis - Apache Dawn?

Oh, and thanks for not spoiling anything!

Yes. Haven't read Apache Dawn yet. Will later

I remember a while back there was some discussion regarding the TADS display colour in the Apache. It seems that the TADS display is "black and white" as in the many youtube clips, and "green and black" during the night(ref-P39 Apache Dawn).

Anyway these books should offer some good food for thought when shaping future mods.

Well I finshed apache by Ed macy on friday night and I've got to say guys that at the end I had a lump in my throat and I'm not ashamed to admit it lol , I brought apache dawn yesterday morning, I paid £8.99 for it from WH Smiths. Got Apache from £9.80 from tesco two weeks ago

Iv'e just about finished Apache Dawn and what a good read it is...got my copy from Tesco's here in the UK for £10.00.

@arneh..(cough cough!) any chance of your Apache getting a black and white display..like in the Commanche

There are no black and white displays in the Apache, they are green and black.

I dont doubt what you say AlphaOneSix, so i guess either the UK Apache's have been modded or the Author(Damien Lewis) is incorrect. The periscope view in Janes LB2 also offered these displays. Perhaps the Apache has been varied over the years?

Okay you got me, I wasn't thinking about the Heads Down Display. Those are no longer installed on newer AH-64D's, and I thought that the UK guys had that mod. I'll revise my statement to say that all the dashboard displays are green and white. Green is NVG-compatible. It's okay to do black and white in the HDD because it won't be seen in the cockpit unless you stick your face into the "periscope".

Read an extract from 'Apache Dawn' here:
http://www.helosim.com/flyboy/air/apache/apache.html

There's an excerpt from the final mission of Ed Macy's Apache here.

I've read Ed Macy's Apache and I'm now on his second book "Hellfire" which concentrates a lot more on his training to be come a pilot. Both are brilliant accounts and just makes me shout "give us a goddamn apache flight sim again!"