ALBATROS D.II & D.III OEFFAG

by Mgr. Petr Aharon Tesar
Translated by Petr Janda
Drawings by Petr Tesar
Colour profiles by Ing. Tomas Poruba
Published by JaPo
Softcover 8x12

Reviewed by Bob Pearson

A very welcome addition to anyone's library on Austro-Hungarian aircraft of the WW1 period is this study on the Albatros D.II and D.III(OEF). Within its 76 pages (counting covers) will be found a history of the design, operational usage as well as notes on unit colours and markings of the Austrian Albatri. The real strength of this book lies in its 172 photographs and 23 colour profiles. I have other publications on the Austrian-built Albatri, yet this one presented me with many photos I had never seen before - always a welcome surprise. The profiles are by Tomas Poruba and all I can say is I wish I had done them. Also presented is the infamous printed 'swirl' fabric in all four colours, as well as the oblong lozenge seen on some aircraft - I disagree with the colours used for these oblongs, but that is my only negative remark to this entire book. 1/48 drawings of all the variants of series 52, 53, 153 and 253 complete the package. Text is in both English and Czech with English being in the body of the book, while the Czech is a separate section at the rear.

ALBATROS D.II & D.III OEFFAG is available from all specialist aviation and model shops for around $15 USD

AUSTRALIAN PLASTIC MODELLERS ASSOCIATION Journal

Reviewed by Bob Pearson

As mentioned in my editorial this is an excellent source of schemes for your next model. Rather then describing how to build the latest kit or scratchbuild a model, the APMA gives you many different options for that kit you may have stashed in a closet. Each 28 page journal contains dozens of cross-hatched drawings as well as brief history of the type or articles on where you may find further information on the subject. Although predominantly aviation related, there are articles on other topics as well.

Articles in the three journals I received include

APMA 1-98

- Douglas AD-4B
- Belligerent Bucker
- Boeing B-17E
- 'Douglas' Wellington (movie aircraft from the 1960s)
- Spanish Civil War at sea
- Arado Ar 234B-2/N
- Mavag RE200 Heja II
- Demobbed Wings (Firebombers - B-25, B-26, PBY, Ventura, Avenger, and many more)
- Bloch MB150 Series
- Civil War Armour
- Flashes of Inspiration (uncommon P-38s)
- Cierva Autogyros
- USN Carrier-borne Aircraft colours of the 1930s
- Flying Floating French: L'Aeronatique Navale 1939-40

APMA 2-98

- Odd bods No.1: North American NA O-47 - "the Pregnant Foose"
- Colourful Australian tails: Aussie Lancaster/Halifax tail markings
- IAR80 Again
- Flying Floating French: L'Aeronatique Navale 1939-40 pt.2
- HMAS Bataan
- Gannet Update
- Down Under Diesel: Ju86B VH-UYA
- Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon
- The Eduard Sopwiths: Addendum: Sopwith Tabloid
- The Great APMA Colouring Competition
- Ryan STM
- RAF FW-190
- Avro 547 C-AUCR

APMA 3-98

- US Fw-190
- Flying Floating French: L'Aeronatique Navale 1939-40 pt.2 (continued)
- RAF Bomber Command: list of books and available kits
- Qantas Prodigal (C-47 VH-EDC, VH-EDD- Sea vixen TT.2
- Zero Times Six (6 Zero profiles)
- Flying Floating French: L'Aeronatique Navale 7/40-11/42 pt.3
- Kangazelle (Australian Gazelle)
- far from Dull Drones (F-104 drones)
- Odd bods No2. Mystery Marauder
- Aussie Canberras

For further information on joining the APMA contact Shane or Lorna Jenkins at sljenkins@tac.com.au, or visit the APMA website at http://www.dot.net.au/~melst/APMA.html.

Memberships are available at the following rates (in AUD$)
Junior(16yr & under) $10.00
Senior (Australia wide) $30.00
Associate(family excludes magazine) $3.00
Overseas(Airmail only Senior & Junior) $35.00

The above gets you four quarterly journals, as well as at least four newsletters.

Thanks to the APMA's Lorna/Shane Jenkins for the sample issues.

Is there an airplane from the Second World War that is more famous than Boeing's B-17 Flying Fortress? People who know nothing about the airplanes of the war know the name of the Flying Fortress. If one merely looks at the number of people who show up to climb through "Nine-Oh-Nine," the Collings Foundation's restored airplane, it is obvious that the B-17 is one of the more beloved airplanes ever made, and not just by those who flew and fought in them.

Number 16 in Squadron-Signal's "Walk Around" series, this book gives the modeler more detail information about the definitive B-17G Flying Fortress than most modelers would know to ask for.

Amply illustrated with both period photos of Flying Fortresses that are not the "usual suspects" and color detail photos from the best of the restored B-17s presently available, Lou Drendel literally takes the reader on a tour from nose to tail. One could, with this book, spend a year scratchbuilding detail for a Monogram B-17, and that would merely be the detail that could be seen once the model was finished!

This reviewer has had the opportunity to spend a considerable bit of time around some very good B-17 restorations, and there was information shown here that I had never known to look for on the real airplanes.

Highly recommended.

This is a companion volume to mcDowell's previous work on the career of the P-47 Thunderbolt in the European Theater, and to this reviewer is even more valuable, since not as much has been written before on the Thunderbolt in the Pacific.

Originally the P-47 was accepted in the Pacific only due to force majeur - HQ USAAF in its wisdom sent this short-legged beast to the SWPA, instead of the additional P-38s General George Kenney had asked for, and he was stuck with it. Eventually, the P-47 would prove itself as valuable as a ground attack fighter in New Guinea and the Philippines and over the Japanese Homeland, as it had been found to be in the fighting in Europe. Not only that, but the fourth and sixth ranked aces of the USAAF in the Pacific Theater were P-47 pilots.

McDowell provides lots of photographs of P-47s in every unit that flew them in the Pacific. many of which are unfamiliar to this reviewer and therefore not previously published that I am aware of. This fact alone makes the book interesting. Don Greer's color profiles are, as usual, excellent; again, the choice of aircraft is not limited to the "usual suspects," and some very interesting schemes are shown.

The author provides a solid capsule history of each of the fighter groups in each of the numbered Air Forces - 5th, 7th, 10th, 14th and 20th - as well as the RAF and the Chinese Air Forces, and again much of this is information is new to this reader.

With the release of the Hasegawa P-47Ds - and most importantly the early P-47D razorback - this books provides a lot of inspiration. For the modeler looking for interesting subjects of aircraft that have not been "done to death" by others, this is an excellent research source.