Windsock Datafile 135

Voisin III/V at War

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

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The story of the Voisin two-seat pushers is a complicated one.

Although the material has been available it needed someone to sift through it. Paola Varialle has accepted the challenge and the result is the 135th Datafile in the series from Albatros Productions.

It was not an easy task as sources are often contradictory on the pre-war models. Adding to the frustration is the operational service records which for some countries is far from complete. Despite this, the author has done an excellent job of collecting the information necessary to give the reader an appreciation of the aircrafts use by the French, Italian, Russian and British air services.  

The story starts with how a precocious Gabriel Voisin got started in the aviation business. We follow him to his first workshop and the establishment of Appareils d’ Aviation Les Frères Voisin where he built powered flying machines. With the help of Henry Farman he improved his aircraft and thus the reputation of the company. By 1912 he was receiving his first orders from the Aviation Militaire and Marine Nationale.

There are 42 pages instead of the usual 34 and this is to include the additional detail sketches provided by Marty Digmayer. He also provides the general arrangement drawings and these are printed in both 1:72 and 1:48 scales. The plans incorporate internal details as well as highlighting the variations between machines when built by different manufacturers.

Over 95 photographs have been selected for publication including a genuine WWI colour autochrome.
The large A4 format of the publication allows many of these to be reproduced 2 or 3 to a page. This permits maximum detail to be gleaned from each image.

Complimenting all this is Ronny Bar’s superb artwork. He supplies 4 colour profiles, all sufficiently diverse enough to inspire any modeller.

The appendices round out the publication and these tabulate the specifications of the Voisin III (LA), Voisin III (LAS), and Voisin V. Production figures are also featured and where known we find a listing of the serial numbers that were allocated to the country of use.

The result is a long needed publication that puts the spotlight on one of the most interesting two-seaters of WWI.  

Thanks to Albatros Productions for the review sample

Review Copyright © 2009 by Rob Baumgartner
This Page Created on 10 July, 2009
Last updated 10 July, 2009

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