Albatros Productions Ltd.

Windsock Datafile #131, Junkers Monoplanes at War

by  Harry Woodman

Reviewed By  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: £10.80 ($15.95) Web Site: www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk Albatros Productions has been producing a series of issues on historically significant airplanes of the World War I period, and Harry Woodman's work on the Junkers Monoplanes certainly does justice to these fascinating aircraft. Dr. Junkers, along with his designers, produced the first successful all-metal airplanes during and after World War I. Starting with the J.1 two-seater, and progressing through the J.2 and J.7/D.1 single seat fighters, the design remained basically unchanged, resulting in the two seat J.10/Cl. 1 ground attack aircraft, one of which was used briefly after the war as a civil mail plane. A two seat naval floatplane was also developed, but only 3 were built. These aircraft were the forerunners of the highly successful J.4/J.1 biplane ground attack aircraft (covered in another issue), and eventually the F.13 single engine transport, which eventually evolved into the G.31 and JU-52/3m transports of the thirties and forties. Junkers' designs significantly influenced the development of aircraft during this period. His construction techniques coupled with the Fokker Tri-Motor format, led to the Ford Tri-Motor, and later the JU-52. The corrugated aluminum skinning technique led to stressed skin construction used in the Luscombe and eventually the Cessna aircraft of today. Truly, Junkers was way ahead of his time. In fact, a design study of "R" Plane, a heavy bomber, illustrated in the text, looks more like a World War II aircraft than one originating in 1917. This text tells about everything you would want to know about the Junkers single engine monoplanes to the end of World War I. The text is readable and easy to follow, and the illustrations are first rate. The 1/72 and 1/48 scale drawings, complete with the usual Draconian copyright notices, are accurate and highly detailed, and the kit I have, the Roden Junkers J.1 fighter, follows them exactly. Four color profile views are included, along with some excellent detail photos of the only surviving example, the J.1 that is displayed in the Paris Air Museum. There are enough photos and drawings to help to super detail these kits, so the book should be extremely useful for modelers and historians alike. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this aircraft. Thanks to Albatros-Windsock and IPMS/USA for the review copy. Available from the publishers or selected book and hobby dealers.

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