World Famous Comics: Pfalz Scout Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces)
Pfalz Scout Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces)
By: Greg Vanwyngarden Publisher: Osprey Publishing Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Osprey Publishing Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 96 Publication Date: July 25, 2006 Release Date: July 25, 2006
Product Description: The Pfalz Flugzeug Werke, located at Speyer am Rhein in Bavaria, was the third in the great triumvirate (along with Fokker and Albatros) of German fighter manufacturers in the Great War. When World War I broke out in 1914, Pfalz initially produced copies of the Morane-Saulnier parasol monoplanes for the German air service. With the advent of the famed Fokker Eindeckers with their synchronized machine guns, Pfalz entered the fighter market with the Pfalz E.I and its successors, all monoplanes which were similarly armed. Though never as as numerous as the Albatros or Fokker designs, the D III/IIIa was flown in combat by many well-known aces: Werner Voss, Carl Degelow, Erich Löwenhardt, and the balloon buster Fritz von Röth, among others. This book examines the little-known aircraft flown by these incredible men.
interesting book, but thin, and expensive This book is full of information, photos, and color drawings for modelers but I thought it was thin, and expensive. The information is technical and a little boring to read. It did help me realize the aircraft of world war one were Larger than I thought they were. A lot of the replicas these days are scaled down and not as large as the originals, unless they were built from original plans.
Exceptional History of these aircraft in combat The Pfalz fighters and their pilots were always in the shadow of the more famous Fokker and Albatros. The author does a wonderful job documenting these little-known fighters given the relative lack of material available; there is new information here, including new photos and new color profiles, just what the excellent Osprey series is known for. This book is an excellent reference for enthusiasts, historians, and modelers, and is a must for anyone interested in Pfalz fighters or their operations.
Dogfighting in Pfalz Biplanes! Pfalz biplanes equipped many German Jadgstaffels in World War I. Though never as popular or as numerous as its Fokker or Albatros contemporaries, Pfalz D III, D IIIa, D VIII and D XII biplanes saw combat from mid-1917 to war's end. The combat record of Pfalz aces is covered in this volume, #71 in Osprey's 'Aircraft of the Aces' series.
In one respect the 'Pfalz Aces' title is misleading. Many Jadgstaffels flew a mixture of Pfalz, Fokker and/or Albatros fighters but German victory records did not specify which aircraft a pilot was flying when he claimed a kill. So, while many famous German aces like Werner Voss, Paul Baumer, Fritz Hohn, Emil Thuy, Hans Bethge, Paul Billik, Erich Lowenhardt and others flew the sleek biplanes, author Greg VanWyngarden expressly acknowledges that not all may, in fact, have scored five or more kills in Pfalz fighters.
In any case, VanWyngarden's book is an interesting chronicle of the WWI air war from the German side. VanWyngarden uses many first-hand accounts in the book which is nicely illustrated with 90 black & white photos and 12 pages of color profiles by Harry Dempsey. The colorful paint schemes worn by the Pfalz biplanes are a visual delight.
Air war enthusiasts will enjoy this book. It highlights the efforts of some intrepid pilots like Bethge, Hohn and Billik and units such as Jastas 16b, 21s, 30, 47w, 52, 79b and others that haven't received the historical coverage they deserve.
Another nicely done, informative Osprey piece.
Another great book in the Osprey Series Osprey has done a fine job in putting together a series of informative books on war. Their aviation series are a personal favorite of mine. These books contain much information, excellent photos and full color plates of the aircraft covered. A nice, clean, concise account of the subject matter. In this case it's the German Aces who flew the Pfalz Scouts in the Great War. Grey Vanwyngarten does a fine job (again) here. He knows his stuff, and is a dedicated buff of the First War in the Air. Just the Osprey books alone would fill a nice shelf in your library.
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