World War I Aeroplanes, Inc.

Skyways, Journal of the Airplane 1920-1940 Issue #83 July 2007

Reviewed By  Dick Montgomery, IPMS# 14003

Subscription: $42.00 per year Thanks to Leo Opdycke, Publisher for the review copy of this excellent publication. www.aviation-history.com/ww1aero.htm SKYWAYS bills itself as "The Journal of the Airplane-1920-1940". The specific item reviewed here is the July, 2007 issue, No. 83. The publication is a softbound magazine, with slick, glossy pages, and is printed in an 81/2 x 11 inch format. All of the photographs, not surprisingly, are black and white. The cover features a full color illustration of the Curtiss-Wright T-32 Condor II in flight (American Airlines), rendered by Ted Williams, The inside front cover features profiles (left view) of four different Condors. The inside back cover features a 3 view profile of the Latecorere 521. The subscription fee of $42.00 (US) covers 4 issues. That may seem a bit pricey for plastic modelers, but consider that this publication is not just for plastic modelers. This is a first rate historical aviation journal featuring exquisite line drawings, high quality images of the subject aircraft, and very detailed and well written text. Issue #83 includes five main articles. Two of those articles focus on the Condor II, with the 2nd focusing on the cockpits of the Navy Curtiss Wright R4C-1 Condor II. The remaining content covers the Latecoere Flying Boats, The OTW and its creator, Allen Meyers, and Tom Towle, the designer of the Ford Tri-Motor. There are other features within the magazine, some of which are not very useful to modelers. However, there is a section expressly oriented toward modelers entitled, "Models". This section features industry news regarding RC and plastic models. Mentioned in this section are names that we plastic folks recognize. Squadron Shop’s latest releases featuring aircraft of the 20s, 30s, and 40s are mentioned. Publications which feature articles about this era are mentioned. Although not mentioned in this section, which tends to focus on "new" items, the old ITC (now Glencoe) 1/81 Condor is mentioned in the lead article about the Condor II. The modeler will be able to use the photographs as references, and I must repeat that the images are of superior quality. The images of the Condor clearly show the rigging, the markings, and a load of detail. The text provides a detailed description of the colors of the aircraft, and combined with other references, the modeler will have no trouble picked the proper colors. I highly recommend Issue # 83 (and, by extension, future issues) for two reasons. First, the magazine provides for fascinating reading, especially on a subject for which many modelers have only a passing familiarity. If a modeler is interested in the Golden Era of aviation, this publication should certainly be of interest. Secondly, the images and line drawings are excellent resources for the modeler. In fact, I’ve been motivated to find and build the Glencoe Condor using the line drawings and images featuring Adm. Byrd’s Antarctic T-32 Condor.

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