Military Model Scene

Title: Luftwaffe Training Aircraft

Author: Chris Goss

Publisher: Frontline books

ISBN: 978-1-47389-952-0

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The latest addition to the Air War Archive series from author Chris Goss takes on the topic of Luftwaffe Pilot training, looking at the aircraft they used. It is introduced by a short introduction to give us the background to how the author collected these pictures and how the Luftwaffe training units were organised. We get 180 pages packed with some excellent pictures, each with useful captions. The collection is divided by aircraft manufacturer and their various machines, so we have Arado: Bucker: Dornier: Focke-Wulf: Gotha: Heinkel: Henschel: Junkers: Messerschmitt: Messerschmitt Bf 109: Miscellaneous: People: and finally, Various. In addition to their own aircraft makes, the Various section considers the assortment of foreign aircraft that were captured during the war and put to good use by their new owners. There are all sorts of aircraft seen in use, as well as some of the inevitable training accidents. I won't attempt to try and mention them all but among those I found particularly interesting were the Junkers W34, a single engine machine but with the same characteristic corrugated fuselage as the larger Ju 52. There are He 111 variants as well as many Bf 109s but a useful reminder that even the rocket powered Me 163 and the Me 262 jet needed their pilots to undergo training.

 

 

An easy book to recommend for Luftwaffe historians as well as modellers.  Loads of fascinating archive images and modellers I think will like this one for the detail that is shown in the photos and the large number of pictures which can inspire some great diorama ideas.

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Reading this one sent my mind back to conversations with an old friend of mine, now sadly passed away a few years ago. As an 18 year old in 1944, he had started Luftwaffe pilot training but had it cancelled as there was a lack of fuel. He was forced to transfer to another arm of the Luftwaffe, the 2nd Falschirmjager Division, who he fought with in Holland before being captured and made a POW and who stayed living in the UK after the end of the war. I really wish I could have sat down with him to look through this one, I am sure he would have enjoyed seeing it.

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Thanks to Pen and Sword for my copy.

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Robin