Reviews of books from the world of aviation. If you're an airhead, and are looking for your next read, you will find it here.
Review by Adrian Roberts. The Fokker Dr.I is probably the best known aeroplane of W.W.I due to its association with Manfred von Richthofen and to its distinctive appearance. It was built in relatively small numbers, and only served at the Western Front for three or four months, but it was the best German fighter around... Continue Reading →
Review by Sven Atkin. The Mi-24 ‘Hind’ attack helicopter has always been an intriguing machine because of its aggressive looks and how little was known of its development and subsequent service with Russia and former Eastern Bloc countries. Today’s ‘Hind’ variants have come a long way since the very first V-24 prototype took to the... Continue Reading →
Review by Andy Wright. The projection of power by naval aviation is an important asset and requires the retention of a variety of skills and capabilities often too costly for smaller navies, but a source of pride for those that do. Politics, as ever, play their part, not just from governments, but from other services... Continue Reading →
Review by Zac Yates. The actions of Japan against the Australian mainland are essentially general knowledge. The fact Darwin was attacked in a Pearl Harbor-style raid not long after that Day of Infamy is just one of those things most people know. This reviewer – like many, as author Tom Lewis writes – thought the... Continue Reading →
Review by Adrian Roberts. Mark Hillier is an established aviation historian and Stearman pilot who has written The RAF Battle of Britain Pilot’s Kitbag and a companion volume on Luftwaffe pilots’ equipment. These gave an insight into the lives of these men that complemented the accounts of their operations and their aircraft. Now he has... Continue Reading →
Review by Takis Diakoumis. Initially declared neutral, as the only defeated power not to have received some territorial award at the end of the First World War, Bulgaria hoped for some gains as a collaborator with the Third Reich and fully signed member of the Axis. As Nazi Germany began preparations to invade Yugoslavia and... Continue Reading →
Review by Sven Atkin. This book covers the continued life and times of one of the Royal Navy’s ground breaking rotary wing stalwarts. The diminutive Westland Wasp is a helicopter that proved to be a reliable, well-loved, and very hard worked, aircraft by its aircrew and ground crews. The accounts from crews who flew this... Continue Reading →
Review by Adrian Roberts. A book with such a broad title as this will either be an exhaustive work aimed at existing enthusiasts, or a greatly simplified version aimed at the beginner to the subject. From its length and format it is clear it is the latter and it is good Pen & Sword perceived... Continue Reading →
Review by Zac Yates. For much of the hobby’s history plastic scale modellers have had to make do with inaccurate kits and put up with scale or detail issues, particularly when it comes to panel lines. Modern kits have, for the most part, avoided such ‘fatal errors’, to quote some of the internet’s hardcore, but... Continue Reading →
Review by Andrew Kitney. Having spent the past 35 years gaining a degree in Air Transport Engineering and working in airlines and aviation, and many more years than that as an enthusiast, this book looked like it would be at a good level of interest for me. The author, similarly, has completed studies in aeronautical... Continue Reading →
