Useful Book for Newbies?

[Wayfarer]

This may already be well known (although the publication date says 2010), and probably not that much use to those who already have an extensive library of WW1 aircraft information, but I just got a copy of 'The Essential Aircraft Identification Guide: Aircraft of World War 1 1914 to 1918' by Amber books. I got it for £13.30 from Amazon UK, and haven't seen it in any shops yet.

As I gave away any WW1 aircraft books some years ago (fool - why didn't I foresee OFF!) and have been relying largely on my Dad's books from the 1960s and 70s, recently dug from his loft, this seems a good introduction (or reintroduction) to WW1 aircraft.

It has many colour profiles by an artist who has done work for Cross and Cockade, amongst other things, and information on the Eastern and Italian fronts and Maritime aviation amongst other topics. It also has a number of tables on numbers/types of aircraft deployed, losses etc.

I am not knowledgeable enough to make a well informed judgement on its worth, but the pictures certainly make it very browseable, although it does keep repeating the specifications box for different examples of the same type, which seems a little redundant.

I imagine people with a long time interest will have all this information anyway but if you are looking for an introductory book, with a reasonably extensive amount of information, this seems very good.

 

 

[+Olham]

Thank you for the tip, Wayfarer; I'll check, if I can get it cheap somewhere.

 

For all who want to know some basic characteristics of the OFF aircraft without buying a book:

You can get this info inside OFF.

 

You go to "Workshop", there click on "CFS3 QC" at the bottom.

You now get a window for a QC setup. You can choose an aircraft for your mission, but instead of

flying it, you click on "Aircraft stats" at the bottom. Now you get the specifics for the chosen craft.

Change to all the craft you want to check.

[+Olham]

I'm running Vista, and I have been there to check some planes today, before I wrote it.

But maybe Vista isn't the same everywhere - might depend on your setups.

[+Polovski]

Or indeed have a read of C:\OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields\manuals\MOW.pdf