Kagero Monograph #66: The PZL P.24 A-G (9788366148055)

[Mike]

Monograph #66: The P.24 A-G (9788366148055)

Kagero Publishing via Casemate UK

 

 

The PZL P.24 was the last of a series of small single-engined monoplanes with high-set gull-wings that were designed in the 1930s by Polish engineer Zygmunt Puławski.  It was initially to be powered by a license built Bristol engine, but due to restrictions on the licensing deal this was soon changed to a Gnome-Rhone unit and production began with airframes began entering service in 1936.  In the run-up to WWII there were numerous orders for the fighter, and with each upgrade the letter designation increased from A through to G, with an H and J model proposed but not reaching service.

 

When the war started it was soon realised that the fighter was out-dated compared to the more modern fighters fielded by the Nazis in their invasion of Eastern Europe, so it was pulled from the front and used in the training role.  Greece however flew the aircraft against the Italians until they ran out of spares, and then were replaced by the Gloster Gladiator that fared little better.  The Romanians also flew the type built under license, and some of the P.24's DNA found its way into their own IAR.80 in the aft fuselage, although the overall look of the aircraft was completely different to the casual observer.

 

The Book

This is number 66 in the Monographs 3D edition from Kagero, with Polish on the left half of the page and English on the right.  It is perfect-bound in a card cover and 172 pages in colour and black & white.  It is written by Andrzej Glass and Tassos Katsika.  The first 90 pages are text interspersed with many pictures and their accompanying captions, and incidentally the English text is usually found under the Polish for these.  The chapters break down as follows:

 

• Puławski's concept fighter
• Puławski's imitators around the world
• Puławski's fighter planes with in-line engines
• Puławski's fighter planes with radial engines
• The PZL P.24 fighter plane
• The PZL P.24A and P.24C in Turkey
• The PZL P.24B in Bulgaria
• The PZL P.24E in Romania
• The PZL P.24F, P.24G and P.24H in Greece
• The PZL P.24J and the export program
• Production of the PZL P.24
• An evaluation of the PZL P.24
• A technical description of the PZL P.24
  • The wing
  • The fuselage
  • Control surfaces
  • Undercarriage
  • Armament
  • Engine
  • Painting
• Plans & differences between marks (17 sheets in 1:48 plus loose A3 sheet in 1:32 printed on both sides )
• Photographs of the aircraft in service
• Visualisations by Tassos Katsika (76 pages)
• Colour profiles (6 pages)

 

 

 

There is a substantial amount of text in the first part of the book which gives a lot of detail on the development, entry into service with its various operators and the subsequent action that it saw during WWII in their service.  The photographs are of great interest to anyone with a historical bent, and coupled with the captions there will be plenty of reading time after which you'll be an instant expert on the type, and ready to dig into the 3D computer renderings that take you deep into the heart of the machine, peeling it away like layers of an onion.  The detail shown here is extremely impressive and would be an absolute boon for the modeller with an eye for it that perhaps wants to strip away some of the skin to reveal what's underneath.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

This little aircraft isn't all that well-known outside of where it served, so it's good to see it getting a little prominence with this release.  It is a good one-stop-shop if you would like to get to know it a little better, and broaden your knowledge a little bit in the process.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of