Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War I [Hardcover]

Peter Grosz (Author), George Haddow (Author), Peter Schiemer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1891268058 | ISBN-13: 978-1891268052 | Publication Date: January 2002

Here is the most comprehensive, detailed and accurate story of these exotic aircraft ever written. It covers all manufacturers and their planes and provides important information on armament, flying units and more. Line iIlustrations in standard scales (1/48 and 1/72) make this a must purchase for modelers as well.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Flying Machines Press (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891268058
• ISBN-13: 978-1891268052
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 10.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,789,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Reference, March 8, 2009

By 

Tom Vrille (NW Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War I (Hardcover)

Simply stated, this book is the Bible of the aircraft of the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. It details all the designs of the Austro-Hungarian aircraft companies, both those that went into serial production, and those that did not. It also covers foreign designs that were produced by Austro-Hungarian companies, whether by mutual agreement, or by exploitation of captured aircraft. The evolution of the Austro-Hungarian aircraft industry is described, along with production rates and schedules of each manufacturer, for each design. The 12 Appendices cover the Army Aircraft Designation System, Engine Numbers and Engine Production for 1914-1918, and Aircraft Armament. There is even a listing of Army Flying Units, showing where they were based, and when. In summary, if a reader has any interest at all in Austro-Hungarian Army Aviation, this book is essential.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Anatomy of Failure, May 20, 2005

By 

Jeffrey F. Bell (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War I (Hardcover)

Why buy an expensive book about the air force of a country that doesn't exist anymore and was already in a state of terminal decline when the Wright Brothers first flew? For one thing, the Dual Monarchy produced a surprising number of airplane designs with interesting technical quirks (like a V-12 engine mounted sideways and driving outboard propellers from both ends of the crankshaft). For another, it had several brilliant minds in its technical branch (like von Karman who later created the Jet Propulsion Lab).

But as a student of technical and managerial failure in aerospace, I found the most interesting parts of this book to be the discussions of the disastrous mistakes that the Habsburg bureaucrats made in design and production of aircraft. Just about any mistake that could be made was made, sometimes several times -- and in the space of only about 8 years.

Politicalization of procurement decisions. Incompetent design by Herr Doctorprofessors obsessed with numerical theory. Shoddy workmanship by conscripted peasants. Blind conservatism of an entrenched aristocracy. Monopoly capitalists organizing a secret cartel. Ethnic quotas in the allocation of contracts and scarce materials. This book is practically a text on how to wreck a whole industry and loose a war. Everybody at NASA should read it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finest example of aviation hystory publication, February 3, 2007

By 

Yavor Dimitrov Dinkov "Yavor Dinkov" (Sofia, Bulgaria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War I (Hardcover)

Excellent book. Comprehensive research, good photographs and scale drawings, exhaustive list of Austro-Hungarian aircraft designed, produced and flown during the First World War. Authors decided to remove colour profiles from the second edition on the basis on doubts about colour interpretation. Nevertheless, this book is amongst the finest examples of aviation history publications.