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Henschel Hs 129 B-2 (vol.6 of the Illustrated History of Romanian Aeronautics) by Horia Stoica, Dan Antoniu and Vasile Radu I want to present to people here another volume that appeared in the "Illustrated History of Romanian Aeronautics" series, of which I have previously reviewed the titles dedicated to the Hawker Hurricane, Bf 109 E and Bloch M.B. 210. This one is dedicated to the Romanian career of the Henschel Hs 129 B-2 and, like previous titles in this series it is bilingual, with the text split between Romanian and English, and, as the series name suggests, tells its story mostly through photographs accompanied by commentary and relatively short sections of text. Following the heavy losses suffered by the Romanian Airforce during the battle of Stalingrad a program was started to get it back to strength using "new" German aircraft. One of these types was the Henshchel Hs 129 B-2. The planes received were actually used and only reconditioned by the Germans before delivery to Romania. The 8th Fighter Group was designated for conversion and it became the 8th Assault Group (Squadrons 41, 42 and 60). A first lot of 40 machines started to arrive on 11 May and the first series of pilots finished conversion training on 1 June 1943. The planes were basically German property and were to be replaced when lost. Records from 16 June 1943 to 23 August 1944 show a number of 241 machines used by the three squadrons of the Group. In addition to these, more were captured from the Germans starting with 23 August 1943 and pressed into service. The pilots of the 8th Group were experienced fighter pilots and before converting to Hs 129 B-2 they had achieved numerous aerial victories on I.A.R. 80 and 81 and Bf 109E. They also scored several more on the Henschel, fighting on both the Eastern and Western Fronts and were also involved in several dramatic landings in the first line, under fire, to save downed comrades. The Hs 129 B-2 was finally retired in 1949. Given the large number of Henschels that served with the Romanian Airforce, the book is not structured on a plane by plane chapter like other books in this series, but follows its service before and after August 1944, on the two Fronts it fought on. In addition to these two sections, there is also a chapter dedicated to the personnel of the Group. Close to the end of the book, a two pages chart details the status of the Hs 129 B-2 aircraft on 5.10.1943 detailing the "current" state of each plane number and its werk nr.. In a change from other titles in this series which featured large numbers of photos of various documents, this one has only two. The rest of the pictures (102 in all) depict the machines in Romanian service and their personnel. There are no colour photos of the aircraft, nor any profiles or illustrations, but, in addition to the many black and white photographs, some very useful information for modellers can be found, such as the number serials used for each Sqadron and the propeller spinner colour (red, yellow or blue) specific to each of them. I think this is another well chosen aircraft for this series that shades more light on a rather neglected subject and it should be useful to both modellers and people interested in aviation history. Nowadays, the books from this series seem to be available more widely for non Romanian buyers ( I saw them on aviationmegastore for example), but for anyone interested, I will note that the series has a facebook page, where you could also try to get in touch with one of the authors, Horia Stoica. That`s how I bought my copy and for the avoidance of any doubt I`ll note that I payed the full price advertised at that time. I`m told that a new title in this series is well underway and while I don`t know its subject yet I`m looking forward to it being announced. I`ll end with a few more shots to better illustrate the content of the book.

I finished this a few weeks ago but then spent the weeks since mucking about making bases. After three jet builds this year I felt like something quick and easy . Nothing in the stash from the good guys took my fancy so I pulled out my double boxing of the Hasegawa Hs 129 and Ju 87. The Hs 129 looked like the more simple of the two. Reading a few reviews confirmed this. The aircraft I chose was an aircraft from 9 Ground Attack Air Wing 10 (anti-tank) Company Eastern Front: July 1943 More images at my blog.