Pfalz - Fighter Aircraft from Rheinland the wine country - Kagero Publishing

[Viking]

Pfalz - Fighter Aircraft from Rheinland the wine country

Kagero Publishing

This latest addition to the 'Legends of Aviation' series from Kagero Publishing comes in the usual A4 sized softback format. The layout of the chapters is entirely logical, following a largely chronological sequence over 72 pages.

Starting with the early days the first chapter explains how Pfalz started out by licence building machines from other manufacturers, particularly the French Morane company, and went on to develop thier own enhancements and eventually complete aircraft. The illustrations are well chosen and relevant to the text, some of them I have seen before but many are new to me.

The bulk of the book concerns itself with sections covering Pfalz aircraft 'In Combat' and 'At the front'. These are always fascinating to read, as they reveal much about what the aircraft were like, and their strengths and weaknesses. It has always surprised me that an aeroplane as beautiful as the Pfalz D.III didn't seem to be as good as it looked.

The text is largely interesting and informative, filling in gaps in my knowledge, particularly on the Pfalz triplanes and the diminuitive little D.VII.

Five appendices are included towards the end of the book with aircraft specifications, Jasta markings, production data, 'Entente' (I think they mean 'Allied') Pfalz killers, and an interesting little summary of the Adlershof fighter competitions.
(Interesting little 'aside'. I notice that in the table of Pfalz Killers is Charles G. Gass of 22 Sqn. with 8 Pfalz kills. Although he is not well known, he is to me one of the most interesting of WW1 aces, with a total of 39 confirmed kills. None of these were achieved as a pilot, in fact all came from his time as gunner/observer on the Bristol F.2b).

Next up we have several pages of D.III drawings taken from a variety of sources such as factory drawings and 'Flight' magazine. The detail drawings are really useful in understanding such things as the strut fittings and control wire rigging. The 3-view id reproduced from a factory drawing but no scale is stated, although it appears to be in 1:72nd. Finally we have five full colour 4-views, (three D.III's and two D.XII's) by Ronny Bar, all of which will tempt you into building a model.

Conclusion.
A very nicely produced book which acts as both a 'coffee table' read, and a reference source. It is probably ideal as an introduction to the Pfalz range of aircraft, as unlike other publications it is not limited to a single aircraft. Growing your knowledge in this way is a welcome side effect of building models, and reading books like this often leads to further inspiration.

Highly recommended

Review sample courtesy of