Squadrons No.54
The Hawker Biplane Fighters
Philedition
S u m m a r y : |
Catalogue Number, Description and ISBN: |
Squadrons No. 54
The Hawker Biplane Fighters
by
Phil H. Listemann
Illustrations by Gaetan Marie
ISBN: 979-1096490-92-9 |
Contents & Media: |
Soft-cover format, 68 pages. |
Price: |
Available online from www.raf-in-combat.com and selected retailers |
Review Type: |
First Look |
Advantages: |
Useful to both modellers and those interested in the history of aircraft and its early involvement in the war good set of well reproduced personal photos and very nice coloured profiles. |
Disadvantages: |
None noted. |
Conclusion: |
An interesting and valuable volume for both the historian and modeller with an interest in the colourful period of British biplanes with the change to camouflage that war necessitated. Recommended. |
Reviewed by Graham Carter
This is an 84-page case-bound A4 ‘bookazine’ with a glossy card cover and is the latest in this long series, and is quite a bit larger than the usual edition. This is because it does not concentrate on one particular aircraft, but on a series of Hawker pre-war fighters. It contains some 68 pages of information on semi-matte paper, eleven pages of colour schemes and three more that are either blank or advertise other volumes.
This volume covers four different pre-war Hawker products - the Woodcock, Fury, Nimrod and the Demon. The main part of the volume is concerned with these aeroplanes. Each is treated with a variable coverage looking at a their features and squadron use with the RAF and other forces where relevant. The Demon in particular was used beyond the home country with the RAAF and SAAF making significant use of it. The Woodcock was the least used of the lot and so merits only four pages. These are quite detailed and interesting. Each is accompanied by an outline of squadron use and aircraft losses due to action or accidents, interspersed with useful photos of various aircraft, all in B&W. Many of these are from private sources and quality is a little variable depending upon the originals, but are interesting in that some show casual scenes around the planes. I was interested to see shots of camouflaged Furies in East Africa. There follows an ‘In Memoriam’ table of details of the pilots and crew who lost their lives while flying with these squadrons and what a sobering epitaph these are.
The volume then concludes with nine excellent colour profiles of representative aircraft from different squadrons by Gaetan Marie of BravoBravo Aviation. This include an extra two pages of upper wing and tail colours and insignia from that very decorative 1930s period of squadron colours.
This book is a useful introductory look at these important RAF and RN aircraft and contains sufficient new information and summaries to appeal to any modeller or historian, backed by a nice selection of colour schemes showing the transition from flashy schemes on silver to camouflage.
Thanks to Phil Listemann for the review sample.
Review Text Copyright © 2022 by Graham Carter
This Page Created on 17 August, 2022
Last updated
18 August, 2022
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