Latécoère 290 & 298
By Matt Bittner
Author: Gérard Bousquet
Publisher: Stratus
ISBN: 978-83-61421-20-7
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 80
When I first heard about a couple of upcoming books on French Aircraft from Stratus I was excited. There aren't many books released on French aircraft in the English language. This first French book from Stratus definitely sets the bar high.
The Latécoère 298 actually participated in the early months of WW2. While nothing significant came from their involvement, it was still something to participate. At the time of the Armistice, there were still plenty of 298s still flying.
The book is broken down into a section on the 290 and a section on the 298. There is one area that I don't like about the book. It should be arranged chronologically; that is, since the Latécoère 290 was the first to fly, it should appear first in the book. It doesn't. Instead the Latécoère 298 takes up the beginning of the book. Some could argue this was due to the fact the 298 played a larger role in aviation history, but to me – logically – the 290 should appear first. Okay, my one and only beef with the book is out of the way, and in no way should you let my small annoyance stop you from buying this superlative book.
The rest of the book is outstanding. Each aircraft section starts with how the impetus for the design came into being, followed by the prototypes. From there the production machines are outlined. With the 298, the sections include a detailed analysis of not only peace-time flying, but war time as well. In addition, there is a section within the 298 outlining how the Germans used it after the Armistice. A pretty detailed outline.
One aspect of the book is outstanding and other publications should take heed. There are a lot of color profiles of both the 290 and the 298. On the page – and sometimes pages – for each color profile the authors include photographs to back up the color profiles. Excellent. There are some instances were more than one photo is on the same page as the color profile. In my opinion as a modeler, all publications should be geared this way. Provide the proof for your theories on the same page(s) as the color profiles.
Fortunately, in model from, Azur has released the Latécoère 298 in both 1/72 and 1/48. However, since it was one of their first releases, it's not easy to find. Unfortunately the Latécoère 290 was released in 1/72 as a very limited resin, years and years ago. I do wish someone else would come out with the 290 in model form in 1/72. Personally I like the looks of it more than the 298.
All in all an excellent publication. If you enjoy reading about aviation in general, or French aircraft specifically, then you need this book. As it's the only English-language reference I know of for the Latécoère 290 and 298, then it's a must if you plan on building one of these two aircraft.
There are two other coming publications that are ones to look forward to as well. In the inside cover of the Latécoère 290 and 298 book Stratus has announced a book on French Bombers, 1940, and a book on the Nieuport-Delage 29 and 622 series of aircraft. Excellent!! Hopefully we'll see even more French aircraft covered by Stratus.
Huge thanks to Stratus for supplying this book to review.