Albatros Productions Ltd

Windsock Datafile #132 Curtiss Jenny - Vol 1

by  By C. A. Owens

Reviewed By  Fred Horky, IPMS# 6390

MSRP: £10.80 ($15.73) Website: www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk Today, to the casual reader the name "Jenny", if it means anything aeronautical at all, only means "really old airplane", much as "Piper Cub" often referred to ANY lightplane of ANY origin. But admittedly, the airplane IS old, with a design that traces its roots back almost a hundred years! Specifically, the root of the term and the airplane related to it go back to 1914, when British designer B. Douglas Thomas was hired away from British pioneer A.V. Roe (a name which itself soon became the famed "Avro") by American aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss. Thomas soon designed the Curtiss Model J, which led to their Model N, which begat the Curtiss JN series; the new letter combination was soon slurred into "Jenny" and a legend was born! Like all Windsock Datafiles, this book's text is impeccably researched, and goes into great detail about the airplanes development history. Likewise, it is exactingly illustrated with line drawings, presented in both 1/72nd and 1/48th scales and beautifully done. Naturally, since all the photos are very old, some of them are somewhat washed out in appearance; they were obviously chosen for their content value over appearance. Sometimes, not a lot can be done to improve such really old pictures, but they are still needed for the value of their content. This book is a definite MUST for any enthusiast of WWI and early-post WWI aviation. The Jenny was a milestone design, built by the thousands. After the "Great War" ended many came into the hands of independent "barnstormers" (including an ambitious young Charles Lindbergh), so that the Jenny became the first airplane that many Americans saw close up, and more importantly, took their first tentative flight. They also continued for many years as the U.S. Army's primary trainer It's nearly impossible today to find someone who flew the Jenny during its prime. I am fortunate to have known one; my father-in-law who had begun his career in Army Air Service observation balloons (!) in 1923, transferring to "heavier than air" piloting in the late 1920's to do his "Primary" in Jennies at Brooks Field near San Antonio. His service career ended with retiring from the USAF in 1955, the same year my own USAF flying began. So I've heard many fascinating stories of flying Jennies and other types in the Golden (and dangerous!) Age of aviation, but they're all outside the purview of this book review. This book may be purchased by direct order from Albatros at £10.80; see www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk. Brookhurst Hobbies of California carries the "Windsock Datafile" line in the U.S.; but at this writing this "Jenny" title does not yet appear in their on-line catalog. (See www.brookhursthobbies.com) [Editors Note: Volume Two of this series was recently reviewed here on the IPMS/USA web site.]