Mushroom Models Publications have produced a range of excellent books that are aimed at model engineers and model makers, but they have also produced some fine histories of aircraft types, particularly with a Polish element. This book combines all three elements and is specially welcome in addressing subject that have not been adequately covered before. The standard of illustration is first rate and includes colour images commissioned for the book. – Most Highly Recommended
NAME: Polish Wings No.25, Fokker E.V/D.VIII FILE: R2778 AUTHOR: Tomasz J Kopanski PUBLISHER: Mushroom Models Publications, STRATUS BINDING: soft back PAGES: 80 PRICE: £15.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Polish Air Force, post-WWI, Fokker, monoplane fighter,Polish Soviet War 1919-1920
ISBN: 978-8365958-25-9
IMAGE: B2778.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/ycfevebx LINKS: DESCRIPTION: Mushroom Models Publications have produced a range of excellent books that are aimed at model engineers and model makers, but they have also produced some fine histories of aircraft types, particularly with a Polish element. This book combines all three elements and is specially welcome in addressing subject that have not been adequately covered before. The standard of illustration is first rate and includes colour images commissioned for the book. - Most Highly Recommended The embryonic Polish Air Force faced its first conflict as the ink was drying on the treaties that established an independent Poland. Russia and Germany both had designs on this new State but with the Great War recently ended in German defeat, only the Russians were in a position to act aggressively and attempt to annex Poland in the Polish-Russian War of 1919-1920. The first kill by a Polish fighter pilot was of a Ukrainian Nieuport fighter in April 1919. Lt Stefan Stec was flying a captured Fokker monoplane. The Polish Air Force had captured 17 Fokker monoplanes but only six E.v Fokkers and one D.VIII were in airworthy condition. The remaining aircraft were withdrawn from front line service in 1921 and transferred to training duties. Some fuselages were used in place of gun carriages to carry coffins at military funerals. The Fokker D.VIII appeared in the closing stages of WWI and many judged it the best fighter design of the period. It continued the structure of previous Fokker designs but with a high monoplane wing. The author has produced a history of the aircraft and provides technical details that are supported by more than 120 photographs, and nearly 30 full colour sketches commissioned for the book. This includes a range of colour schemes in Polish and Soviet service. Enthusiasts of military history and model makers will find this a very attractive book. However, it is part of a unique and expanding collection of Polish Wings books that provide a quite unique view of the history of the Polish Air Force, making it useful to a wider readership.