History

"Austro-Hungarian industry produced a series of less than stellar fighter types. The Phönix D.I and Hansa-Brandenburg D.I came during the early stages of the war. It was not until license-built versions of the German Albatros and D.II and D.III began to reach Fliegerkompagnien, or Fliks, in May 1917 that the fortunes of pilots began to look up. Unlike the German-built Albatros, the Oeffag aircraft were far more robust than German D.II and D.III. They also displayed superior speed, climb, manoeuvrability and infinitely safer flight characteristics. The careful cross-checking of Allied sources with Austrian and German records form the basis for a detailed reconstruction of the dogfights fought by the leading aces. It will also chart the careers of the Austro-Hungarian aces that flew the D.II and D.III, their successes and their defeats, with additional information about their personal background and their post-war lives in the nations born from the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire."

Contents

Aircraft of the Aces 110
Author: Paolo Varriale
Illustrator: Harry Dempsey
Paperback; December 2012; 96 pages;
Introduction
A long awaited fighter
Russian, Romanian and Albanian Fronts
The Italian Front
Aftermath
Appendices: Ace Listing; Plates Commentary

critiques

The process of writing a book seems straightforward enough. Unfortunately in this case the editing process tends to damage this manuscript more than help. The consistent errors I see in this book results from editors that have no understanding of the parlance in describing the subject matter. Multiple aircraft is not to be described as Albatros D.IIIs. Adding the suffix “s” to aircraft nomenclatures is inappropriate. To be correct adding words like “types” or “airframes” is correct. Often the single designation such as “Albatros D.II” implies the type and can be left to stand alone.

There is no designation such as "Albatros D.IIs" but the editor of this book has tried to make it so. Trying to note multiples with the suffix “s” can lead neophytes to believe that there is a subtype of Camel or other aircraft with the “s” designation. Also adding the suffix -’s to write “SE 5a’s” denotes a possessive not a plural. The most popular form of editing is the “Chicago Tribune form”. This is taught in colleges & universities everywhere these days. The form tends to encourage these misnomers when it comes to types designations. While there are some other minor typographical errors the reader should have little trouble gleaning good information from this reference.

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