Anders F. Jonsson

The book is the first, and a welcome addition, to my library providing a comprehensive treatment of WWI fighter aircraft performance. About one-third of the book covers the contemporary aircraft design and particularly aerodynamics state of the art. The second part describes briefly the model parameters, uncertainties and assumptions employed in the simulation. The final part is a discussion of simulation results arranged according to key performance indicators. The book covers to a certain extent sustained and instantaneous turn rate, rate of climb, acceleration and dive performance. Fighter selection is quite representative for the final two years of the Great War over the Western Front and includes Pfalz D.III and D.IIIa, Albatros D.Va, Fokker E.V (D.VIII), Fokker Dr.I, Nieuport 28 C.1, Sopwith Triplane, Sopwith Camel, S.E.5a, SPAD S.XIII, SSW D.IV, Fokker D.VII, and Pfalz D.VIII.

Personally, I would be glad to see also a treatment of earlier Fokker E.I/II/III/IV, Halberstadt D.II/III/V, Albatros D.II/III/V, Morane Saulnier N/I/V, Nieuport 11/16/17/21/23/24/27, SPAD S.VII, Airco D.H.2, Sopwith Pup, as well as later SSW D.III, Bristol Fighter, Sopwith Dolphin and Snipe. One must realize, however, the limitations of a single volume. I would be glad to see another volume covering fighter aircraft from 1916, and may be yet another for the summer and autumn of 1918 and including also (why not?!) Halberstadt CL.II/IV.

What I am missing in the current volume, however, is a sort of family perspective, e.g. Albatros D.II/III/V/Va, SPAD S.VII/XIII, SSW D.III/IV, Sopwith Camel powered with Clerget 9B, 9BF, Le Rhône 9J, or B.R.1, and S.E.5/5a powered with Hispano 8A, 8B (low/high compression, various gear ratios), and Wolseley Viper. There are notes about evolution of specific designs inside the book but hardly a systematic treatment of the changing operational environment.

Another point to mention, although it can be strictly my own feeling, my preference is for an extended use of graphics in presentation of simulation results, e.g. maximum / best climb / stall speed vs altitude, or trajectory of the aircraft out of a dive vs altitude with a speed and load factor indicated at certain points.

Self-published, print-on-demand book. Hardcover. Dustjacket. The body of the book looks quite good. The problem is the ink transfer. In my copy, many pages (about 10%) show printing defects – lines with reduced ink density going from top to bottom of the page. Font size is somewhat small for my eyes, too.

The book is recommended to everyone interested in understanding the fighter aircraft performance (or in the simulation of the fighter aircraft performance) within the operational context of the final years of the Great War.… (altro)