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Flying Machines Press |
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Great War Aircraft in Profile 2 Brandenburg D.I by Karl Meindl and Walter Schroeder |
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Reviewed By Scott King, #32139 |
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MSRP: $24.95 USD Copyright Date: 1997 ISBN 1-891268-01-5 72 pgs, 193 photos, 8 pgs color profiles, 6 pgs line drawings. The Brandenburg DI was the first single seat biplane fighter of the Austro-Hungarian Royal and Imperial Flying Troops, (k.u.k. Luftfahrtruppe, or LFT). Designed by Ernst Heinkel for a fighter competition in Germany, it was ultimately rejected by the German Air Service. It was then offered to Austria-Hungary, which was in need of a new fighter aircraft. Distinctive because of its "Star Strutter" configuration which eliminated interplane bracing wires and an over-the-wing canister for its Schwarzlose machine gun, it replaced the various obsolete Fokker monoplanes and biplanes that had been purchased from Germany. Fast and sturdy, but plagued by poor handling characteristics and an awkward armament arrangement, it was dubbed "Totschlager" (Killer) or "der fliegender Sarg" (Flying Coffin) by many of its pilots. In spite of its shortcomings, it did achieve a measure of success in the hands of expert pilots such as Arigi, Brumowski, Fiala, Kiss, and Linke-Crawford. A total of 122 were delivered to the LFT, 50 (series 65.50 thru 65.99) built by Brandenburg in Germany, and 72 (series 28.01 thru 28.72) built by Phoenix in Austria. This book covers the development, introduction and service of the Brandenburg DI. At 72 pages in length, it is about twice the size of a Windsock Datafile, and is packed with over 190 photos. In addition to technical descriptions and an overview of the DI's service, there is a section detailing the individual aircraft histories of all 122 delivered to the LFT, and a detailed chronology of all the confirmed aerial victories by Brandenburg DI's on the Italian and Romanian fronts. Excerpts from Oberleutnant Frank Linke-Crawford's (the fourth highest scoring Austro-Hungarian ace) war diary when he was flying the DI are also presented. Of course there are three-view drawings, 8 pages in all in 1/ 72 and 1/48 scale, but the proverbial icing on the cake are the 30 color profiles in 1/48 scale. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWI Austro-Hungarian aviation or the Brandenburg DI in particular. I obtained my copy from Rosemont Hobbies at the absolute bargain price of $9.95 during their ongoing Flying Machines Press books sale. |
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