IAR-POTEZ 25 - Book review

[Fin]

 

IAR-POTEZ 25

by Dan Antoniu and George Cicoș

 

 

This booklet (of 66 pages) was released as a supplement to the Romanian magazine Modelist, but it is being sold separately. I got mine a few years ago at an airshow, but I see it is still being sold on the site of the magazine. As I`ve said, it is not a recent release, being published in 2009, but I have been asked questions about its subject on this forum before and with the upcoming release by Azur-FRROM of a 1/72 scale kit of the Potez XXV (decal options for the Romanian air force seem likely) I thought it would be beneficial to do a review of this little book here as it was designed especially for modellers and the text is both in English and Romanian.

You can find the book here:
http://www.revista-modelist.ro/Suplimente-Revista.php

and in this .pdf file from the same site you can see a couple of shots with the contents:
http://www.revista-modelist.ro/documents/PrezentareIARPotez25.pdf

The main body of the book starts at page 6 and ends on page 64. The short text is split between the two languages, on each page, but still manages to bring the aviation enthusiast and modeller quite a few bits of interesting information. The book begins with a Forward where it manages to trip on the second phrase of the English text. Aviation enthusiasts will be surprised to read that aircraft construction in Romania started on 20 November 2009, but a glance at the Romanian text on the left half of the page will show that the year was actually 1909. But, we fall so you can learn to pick ourselves up and that is what the book does from this point on.

 

Moving on from the Forward, the book is broadly split into two parts, the first one describing the license acquisition of the Potez 25 by Romania, the creation of the IAR Brașov factory, the production of the IAR Potez 25 and its entry into service. The various Romanian improvements to the aircraft are also briefly discussed, including the adoption of the DC (Dublă Comandă - Double Command) version for training. This is followed by a short discussion of the creation of the IAR 37 reconnaissance aircraft starting from the adaptation of the Potez 25. This first section is supported by 41 (by my count) black and white photographs. A few of them show the IAR factory and the dignitaries present at its inauguration, but the rest are dedicated to the IAR Potez 25 aircraft and are a great source of information for modellers. There are photographs showing the assembling process, several photographs of engines, a close-up of the rudder so you can see in detail the inscriptions there, photographs of aircraft tipped over that show the detail of the underside of the plane, several shots that close in on some elements (like the machine guns or the camouflage smoke generators) and of course, plenty of photographs with the Potez 25 in active service. Three photographs show the cockpit (displaying the pilot`s cockpit and bombardier`s station) and they have the various visible elements numbered and named in the accompanying commentary. The book also contains a series of eight (by my count) photographs with contemporary drawings from the plane`s technical manual detailing various parts and aspects (like the landing gear) but these are presented without a commentary and the few words on them (in Romanian, naturally) are not translated.

At this point in the book there is a section with 10 colour profiles of the aircraft in 1/72 scale plus a view from above and one from bellow in 1/100 scale, all made by the late Teodor Liviu Moroșanu (readers of MMP publications will be familiar with some of his excellent artwork from several titles, including "Romanian Fighter Colours 1941-1945"). These are followed by a page of line drawings showing profiles of the A2/B2 (reconnaissance/bomber) and the DC (trainer) versions, a front view of the aircraft and one from the above. No scale is mentioned for these.

 

The second part of the book is dedicated to the Little Entente and Poland aerial military contest that took place in 1928. The participating teams (from Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Poland) included seven Potez 25 aircraft and the text is accompanied by 23 back and white photographs depicting the event.

 

Placed throughout the book there are three page sized tables, one being a detailed sheet of the technical specifications of the aircraft, another a list with the dates when each IAR Brașov produced Potez 25 entered service and the third is a list with the participants in the Little Entente and Poland aerial military contest of 1928.

 

Overall, I think this is a very good reference material for anyone interested in the Romanian produced Potez 25.

[JWM]

Hi Fin,

This book looks interesting. Is it a serie? What else is in this serie? 

This year I am planning to have  a short duty trip to Romania. Since it will be duty trip I will have very little time for my hobby. Can you suggest some books from Romania about WWII machines to look for? Are there any short run kts (vacus), decals or other loclal raities to catch?

Regards

Jerzy-Wojtek

 

[Fin]

Hi, Jerzy!

Glad to be of some use. I was experimenting with the theory that I`m writing these reviews just to pass the time.

Quote

This book looks interesting. Is it a serie? What else is in this serie? 

It was meant to be a series, but I don`t think they reached the needed level of sales to keep it up. The magazine is 'rested' so to speak and the booklet on the IAR produced Potez 25 is - as far as I know - the first and only in this "series". Both were published by Host Models and the man behind that enterprise, Horia Stoica, is currently responsible for the new "Illustrated History of Romanian Aviation" series of which the first volume dedicated to the Hawker Hurricane has been released last December and I`ve written a review for that too:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235031176-hawker-hurricane-voli-of-the-illustrated-history-of-romanian-aviation/

Horia is on facebook and if I understood correctly from the page dedicated to the series:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1285649678148929/

the volume dedicated to the Fi 156 Storch in Romanian service is close to being published and another volume dedicated to the Fleet 10 is in the works.

 

Quote

This year I am planning to have  a short duty trip to Romania. Since it will be duty trip I will have very little time for my hobby. Can you suggest some books from Romania about WWII machines to look for? Are there any short run kts (vacus), decals or other loclal raities to catch?

Regarding the kits and aftermarkets I can`t think of something that you wouldn`t normally be able to order from your location (Parc models, Icaerodesign, RB Productions) or that are still available in stores. If your visit involves Bucharest you may want to visit machete.ro (check the Contact for a map and address):

http://www.machete.ro/

They currently have the book on the Potez 25 in stock as well as several other titles and are generally well supplied with Radu Brînzan`s decals too. You may find some things that aren`t listed on the site as being in stock. I bought this book from them recently:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235036577-illustrated-history-of-romanian-aeronautics-1909-1948-book-review/

Also, if by any chance you`re in Bucharest during the Bucharest International Air Show that would be a place to see some planes and possibly buy some stuff (but don`t get your hopes too high on the latter):

http://www.bias.aero/ro/

 

 

Edited April 26, 2018 by Fin

[JWM]

Many thanks!

J-W