Gr.Viper 131 Posted January 25, 2008 By an amazing stroke of googling luck I came across another batch of literature - some guy from Russia started upping his books and WDF collection. This stuff floats aroud p2p networks too, I think, but is really difficult to find, unless you know exactly what you need. Knowing instability of anything out there I decided to up some of it to my website. Anyway, if anyone comes by and asks to pull their stuff, I'll do it. === Let's start a reference library for anyone, who might get interested in fragile, flammable, oily, leaky and charming planes and everything related to them. I'd like this post used as the library itself (with some sort of samples) while the rest of the thread will be open for discussion and suggestions of new material, which can added here via editing. Look, comment, check your bookmarks and share your own findings. I got really lazy at Fiction section - maybe will add basic info and screens later. Hope, it doesn't look that bad. Green names mark entries that you'll have to look up elsewhere. The rest (simple bold headers) is clickable, viewable and sometimes even downloadable. *Red stars mark stuff added with latest update. Books, Websites Aeroplane Speaks A brilliantly written introduction into the basics of flight and various flight-related phenomena as seen in the years of WWI. Grab 8Mb html version because it comes with drawings from the original book, including pictures of lots of early planes in the end. "Oh, I'm a most complex and interesting personality, I assure you—in fact, a dual personality, a sort of aeronautical Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There's Lift, my vertical part or component, as those who prefer long words would say; he always acts vertically upwards, and hates Gravity like poison. He's the useful and admirable part of me. Then there's Drift, my horizontal component, sometimes, though rather erroneously, called Head Resistance; he's a villain of the deepest dye, and must be overcome before flight can be secured." The Aerodrome - Articles First three articles seem to be particularly interesting: Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War - An detailed overview of use of aircraft in WWI and even some data on anti-aircraft defence (car with MG chasing low-flying plane - they tried it!). The dug-outs are complete and at places are apparently cunningly masked. If the airman is flying swiftly, he is likely to fail to distinguish the dummy from the real trenches. To him the defences appear to be far more elaborate and more strongly held than is the actual case. Aviation Engines - An introduction into line internal combustion aircraft engines. Basic vocabulary, design principles and some peculiarities explained in simple language. If propeller vibration is noticed and lining does not correct it, change the propeller, as propellers have been known to be inherently wrong and yet appear to be as specified in every way. Aircraft Machine Guns - Comment on interruptor gear design and main types of guns used in the war. The extreme altitude and the difficulty of keeping the gun oil from congealing makes it necessary to keep the guns warm. A small electric heater is provided for this purpose. Engines before 1925 Examples of several WWI plane engines including a detailed pdf profile of Gnome Monosoupape. Each cylinder, for example, began life as a 97-pound nickelsteel bar. When it was completed, it was only 1.5 mm thick and weighed five and one-half pounds. Red Fighter Pilot English translation of Manfred von Richthofen's only book. The most beautiful being in all creation is the genuine Danish hound, my little lap-dog, my Moritz... ...Once I even took him with me. He was my first observer. He behaved very sensibly. He seemed much interested in everything and looked at the world from above. Only my mechanics were dissatisfied when they had to clean the machine. *Der Rote Kampfflieger (37Mb) Scans of the original book by MvR. 1917 German edition with photographs. Fighting the Flying Circus Same war through the eyes of another ace - Eddie Rickenbacker. I was an easy victim in this condition should the five Fokkers detect me without power, and the sole method of restarting my motor was a long dive that would force my propeller to revolve through sheer pressure of the air against it. I lost no time in tipping over on my wing, and then heading vertically downwards, let my machine rip through the atmosphere for a 1500-foot fall before switching on my spark. An Illustrated History of WW1 Some basic info on plane types, weapons and engines, a list of balloon busters. On one occasion, the balloon he was attacking shot upward and Coppens actually landed his Hanriot HD.1 on top of it. Switching off his engine to protect the propeller, he waited until his aircraft slid off the top of the balloon, then restarted the engine and watched as the German balloon burst into flames and sank to the ground. Aviation in WW1 This website has lots of wonderful stuff such as engines, guns, balloons and planes reference, history of attempts to develop aircraft cannons (see the ending of "nocturnal air defence" section), animated model of rotary engine etc. The British called them sausages, for obvious reasons. The balloon's shape gave it another nickname, "Nulle" or "Testicle". The Fledgling, by Arthur "Arch" Whithouse. An excellent autobiography of an American in the RFC-RAF. Wind in the Wires, by Captain Duncan Grinnel-Milne. Another autobiography of a man, this time a Briton, who was in the RFC and RAF. He also wrote another book about his two years as a German prisoner. *Fokker Aircraft of WWI (166Mb) An in-depth overview of all aircraft, designed by the Flying Dutchman. Includes tons of pictures both of well known planes and of their early prototypes. Also includes info on production and serial numbers of all types. *Above the Lines - A Complete Record of the German Fighter Aces 1914-1918 (155Mb) I shall say the name speaks for itself. It IS the seemingly complete record of all German aces and all their victories. Also there are short Jasta histories, list of balloon strafers etc. *(Crowood) World War One in the Air (89Mb) History of the air war in pictures. Divided into four sections, each beginning with some historical data followed by lots of photographs. *Flying Guns Word War I (13Mb) Machine guns of WWI in intimate detail, history of airplane armament from hand-held rifles to cannons. *(Kagero) Famous Airplanes #1 Nieuports 1-27 (18Mb) A Polish publication (both in Polish and in English). This volume is on Nieuports' family. Has more pictures of Russian planes than similar Western files. *(Kagero) Legends of Aviation #2 Sopwith Camel (33Mb) Another one of Polish datafiles for modellers similar in spirit to Windsock DF. Includes history of design, some photographs, plans and paint schemes. Unfortunately, not much attention is paid to small details. *(Kagero) Famous Airplanes #2 Fokker D.VII (27Mb) Can't say it holds at least a tenth as much info as WDF (that had a three-volume special on the plane). Still, if anyone ever wishes to make a Polish or Soviet or Lithuanian skin for D.VII this may be a good place to start. *(Kagero) Legends of Aviation #1 Kaiser's Aces (30Mb) Not as epic as "Above the lines..." this volume offers a number of paint schemes along with stories of some notable aces. *(Kagero) Legends of Aviation #3 Richthofen's Eleven (34Mb) Rather long and detailed history of the famous Jasta 11. P.S. If someone needs something from >this< list really badly and is too lazy to search - PM me. Pictures Rosebud's WW1 and Early Aviation Image Archive I guess, it's the largest open online collection of WWI aircraft-related photogarphs. The Aero Conservancy A collection of pictures of various elements of WWI aircraft obtained from crashes and other sources. Idflieg - A Place For Surviving Machines A growing collection of restored WWI aircraft photos parked in various museums. Picture Atlas of WW1 (1915, 1916, 1919) Three 400-page German albums of WWI. Very few planes, but a lot of recon pictures taken from planes (gas attack - 1916 p.115), pics of destroyed buildings etc. Might come in handy for building scenery. *Vintage Warbirds 6 - Fokker Fighters of WW1 (63Mb) Unlike "Fokker Aircraft in WW1" book this one is more of a collection of photographs - the subject is the same, so a number of pictures are the same though some are of slightly better quality. *Vintage Warbirds 9 - World War One in the Air (12Mb) This one provides not so much historical background and is all about commented pictures. On the other hand most photos in this volume are "air-to-air" with lots of aeroplanes captured in flight and up close. *German Bombers of WW1 (72Mb) All you wanted to know about bomb racks but were too shy to ask. Well, it's mostly pictures with extensive comments here, like two of Zeppelin-Staaken cockpit. *German Naval Air Service (71Mb) Pictures and info about German floatplanes and flying boats. Some data is really amusing... This thing was designed to be dropped from a zeppelin as a glider and then release a torpedo at a set altitude Video WWI in Colour (IMDB) Part V: Blood in the Air is entirely dedicaded to WWI aerial combat. Strategic bombers, floatplanes, first aircraft carrier. Used to be in decent quality on YouTube but was pulled. Still a DVD seems to be easy to get (it's published even in Russia). Flying Coffins Nice documentary from Discovery Channel. Replica dogfight of Camel and Dreidecker, demonstration of engine blipping, Neuport airframe, some pilot stories.... Still avaliable at YouTube: Fiction - Do not take this stuff seriously. Movies The Blue Max (IMDB) Aces High (IMDB) Hell's Angels (IMDB) Dawn Patrol (IMDB) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparkomatic 7 Posted January 25, 2008 Dawn Patrol with Flynn and Rathbone was good entertainment also By the by, the movie Blue Max was more about class struggle, the book was more about flying... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr.Viper 131 Posted January 25, 2008 Added Dawn Patrol. Well, Blue Max still has excellent and realistic flying. It just feels right, though "pull a lever to fire guns" is quite strange for such late war. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparkomatic 7 Posted January 25, 2008 I do enjoy that movie though, one of my favorites, any genre...could be Ursula Andres in a towel though... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longestpants 1 Posted January 25, 2008 Here's a couple of books: The Fledgling, by Arthur "Arch" Whithouse. An excellent autobiography of an American in the RFC-RAF. Wind in the Wires, by Captain Duncan Grinnel-Milne. Another autobiography of a man, this time a Briton, who was in the RFC and RAF. He also wrote another book about his two years as a German prisoner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr.Viper 131 Posted January 25, 2008 Hmm... I wonder where I shall put them. Rats! I'll have to seperate stuff available online (most of my post) from advice "that's a good book". Maybe some sort of marking or separate section... Any ideas? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longestpants 1 Posted January 25, 2008 How about putting things available online in green? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr.Viper 131 Posted January 25, 2008 Bad luck... since headers of entries are links they can't be coloured. I'll try to mark offline things. OK. Now offline stuff (books and movies) is marked with green. BTW is there any web archive of documentary footage released into public domain? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr.Viper 131 Posted February 15, 2008 Ok, ok, I get it... Everyone's too busy to drop at least a line... "No more butterred scones for me, mate - I'm off to fly my aeroplane" Well, here's an update. Rather big and (I hope) interesting. Does anyone have a backup of pictures from Idflieg collection? Their hosting expired two weeks ago - would be a ptiy to lose all that stuff. That's precisely why I try to download and backup everything I can... Didn't do this time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kugelfang 0 Posted February 16, 2008 Don't forget http://www.overthefront.com. You'll find stuff in 'Over the Front' that you won't find anywhere else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr.Viper 131 Posted February 18, 2008 Do they still publish stuff? Last issue of OtF is from Spring 2007... Although the four sample articles out there are sure interesting narrative. P.S. Idflieg is back online. Phew... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch_P47M 9 Posted February 24, 2008 For the books: All the books from Norman Franks, esp. "aircraft versus aircraft" the best book about airfighting, with al lot of WW1 stuff. Peter G. Cooksley RFC/RNAS handbook 1914-18. And do not forget the stories in de pdf-file from "RedBaron1 special edition" and FC-Gold manualbook. Dutch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andiszek 0 Posted March 24, 2008 Hello, i`m the owner of IdFlieg.com thanks for listing my site here. i`m not into gaming, but from the screenshots i saw around here, it looks fantastic. i`m glad that my pictures help you guys expand the game. i had problems with my previous host, almost lost the domain too...the hosting company went bakrupt, but didn`t even bother to send a mass message to it`s clients. obviously, the payment renewal email system works perfectly, so i paid for another year in advance, only to find out that i have been blocked for not paying... anyway, some of the pictures from the site can be found on Torrents: http://www.mininova.org/tor/1031494 as usually, they are free, can be used in any way, as long as you mention my URL. i`ll add a download torrent button to the site soon...don`t have time now, too busy. i have a pile of pictures, unpublished yet, that will go soon online. take care! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+sinbad 27 Posted December 11, 2008 Here is an excellent Belgian site with outstanding images of several aircraft including MF-7, HF-20, Aviatik C.I and N-23. http://www.bamfbamrs.be/Bahl/index.php?cat=3 sinbad Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JFM 18 Posted March 7, 2010 Do they still publish stuff? Last issue of OtF is from Spring 2007... Although the four sample articles out there are sure interesting narrative. Indeed, Over the Front still publishes. The last issue was Volume 24 Number 4, Winter 2009. Volume 25 Number 1 Spring 2010 will be out shortly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
