Osprey Publishing
Osprey’s vast collection of aviation books provides color artwork, photographs, cutaway details, and more on a wide range of subjects. This, combined with pilot profiles and historic information, makes them useful for those looking for scale documentation and details, or anyone who enjoys learning more about the featured aircraft. We are currently reading three of their newest releases that include:
FE 2b/d vs Albatros Scouts: Western Front 1916–17
In the spring of 1916, the deployment of the RFC’s FE 2 with its rotary engine “pusher” configuration afforded excellent visibility for its pilot and observer, removing the need for synchronized machine guns. It helped wrest aerial dominance from Imperial Germany’s Fokker Eindecker monoplanes and contributed to retaining supremacy throughout the Somme battles of that fateful summer.
However, by autumn German reorganization saw the birth of the Jagdstaffeln (specialized fighter squadrons) and the arrival of the new Albatros D scout, a sleek, inline-engine machine built for speed and twin gun firepower. For the remainder of 1916 and well into the next year, an epic struggle for aerial superiority raged above the horrors of the Somme and Passchendaele battlefields, pitting the FE 2 against the better-armed, faster Albatros scouts that were focused on attacking and destroying their two-seater opponents.
In the end, the Germans would regain air superiority and hold it into the following summer with the employment of the new Jagdgeschwader (larger fighter group), but the FE 2 remained a tenacious foe that inflicted many casualties, some of whom were Germany’s best aces (including The Red Baron).
Aces of the 325th Fighter Group
The 325th Fighter Group was activated under General Order #50 on July 30, 1942, and set up training operations at Theodore F. Greene Field in Providence, Rhode Island. By mid-December, 1942 the group was considered ready for combat and the alert for overseas duty arrived on January 2, 1943.
The pilots and their P-40s departed on the carrier USS Ranger on January 8 and flew their aircraft from the vessel into Cazes airfield, near Casablanca in Morocco, on January 19. After the remainder of the personnel arrived in late February, the group prepared for combat, and flew its first mission on April 17 as part of the Twelfth Air Force.
During the next four months, the 325th Fighter Group participated in the North African campaign, and in operations against enemy-held islands in the Mediterranean Sea. By the end of the Sicilian campaign on August 17, the 325th had scored 128 aerial victories, been the first P-40 unit to deliver 1,000-pound bombs against enemy targets, and had escorted 1,100 bombers without losing any to enemy action.
Lockheed A-12: The CIA’s Blackbird and other variants
During the early years of the Cold War, the most effective way to gather strategic intelligence about the Soviet Union and its allies was manned overflight. Lockheed’s U-2 was spectacularly successful in this role; however, much to the concern of US President Eisenhower, its shape meant that it could be tracked on Russian radars.
Given the highly sensitive nature of such flights, the President insisted that every effort should be made to reduce to zero the U-2’s radar cross section, thereby making the aircraft invisible. When this proved to be impossible, the stage was set for a U-2 replacement.
Following a competition between Lockheed and Convair, the former was declared the winner and the result was the A-12. Designed to incorporate “stealth” features before the term was even coined, the A-12 has to date proven to be the fastest, highest-flying jet aircraft ever built. This book also covers a two-seat variation of the design built as an advanced interceptor: the YF-12.
Osprey Publishing: 443 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016; Tel.: (866) 620-6941; website: www.ospreypublishing.com
Building Accessories
When it comes to building our models, there are always times when you could use a few extra fingers, hands, and arms. This is especially true when building small indoor and park flyer models from plans. Enter two new building tools from Retro RC: Bill’s Fingers and Fuselage Jigs.
All of the pieces in these sets are laser cut from 3/32 birch light plywood. They also utilize .25 x .1 rare earth magnets (available separately) so the jigs will hold your parts firmly in position while you work.
To have something to stick to, the magnets require a flat, steel surface to build on. This is as simple as purchasing a piece of thin steel that can be glued to a flat building surface, or an inexpensive metal shelf. We found each of these options readily available at our local home improvement warehouse for less than $10.
The smallest of these new tools is referred to as Bill’s Fingers and comes four to a pack. At a mere 13/4-inches long and 3/4-inch wide, think of them as spring-loaded clamps that often eliminate the need for pins. Place the tab over the part to be held, and the twin magnets hold tight to the surface of the steel, securing the part in place. Bill’s Fingers can firmly hold parts up to 3/32-inch thick. The price for a set is $3.98.
Building a fuselage straight and true is tricky. Retro’s Fuselage Jig Starter set can make this easier by giving you a set of 16 supports to securely hold your fuselage in place during assembly. These supports start at 1/8-inch wide and go up to 2-inches wide, in 1/8-inch increments. The 2-inch high uprights will hold nearly any small fuselage.
The neat trick is that each support has a single alignment hole where a 7.5mm rod can slide through, guaranteeing that all supports are perfectly aligned. The 16-piece Fuselage Jig Starter Set retails for $35.98
Retro RC: Box 193, Keego Harbor MI 48320; Tel.: (248) 212-9666; website: www.retrorc.us.com
Circle Model Display
Have you ever wanted to display your small model using a stand? If so, O-Hobbz four-inch base Circle Model Display may be just what you are looking for. The stand is six inches tall and will engage a broad range of models weighing up to 12 ounces.
The versatile, brushed aluminum stand uses two prongs, a mounting hole, and a super sticky head pad to make it compatible with many different types of models.
We used it with our Heli-Max Axe 100 CX and with a little bending, using the supplied instructions, it securely displayed the model. The metal can be bent to allow the model to be viewed from various perspectives and it sits at the right height to allow you to see the display model’s details from the top and bottom. Each Circle Model Display retails for $9.95 and is available from O-Hobbz.
O-Hobbz: Tel.: (210) 338-5868; website: www.o-hobbz.com
