Customer Reviews

Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War I

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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.

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.

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.

An excellent book, well-illustrated with photographs and drawings. The organization of this book can be confusing. It is organized by manufacturer, and aircraft built under license are covered in the chapter about each builder, not just in the chapter of the original manufacturer. For example, the Aviatik Berg D.I was manufactured by six companies. This means that you must check six chapters for the complete history of the aircraft. There is a chart in the Aviatik chapter, but this can be confusing if you are not already somewhat familiar with the subject. The wealth of detail certainly makes it worthwhile, though.

this is a wonderful book on austro hungarian army aircraft of world war one
austria-hungary had some of the most brilliant minds of the early 20th century
and had very good aircraft indeed half of austrias aircraft were of german disign
built under license but the austrian engineers redrew the blueprints and put more
powerful engines in them that made them a more robust and relible aircraft then the german models
there were some solely austrian companies like WKF that made a fighter plane
turely revolutionary for its time by designing a plane with a hexigone fusilage
for areodynamic effienctcy also the habsburg empire created the world first
successful helicopter this however flew only a few months before the war ended
and only made unmanned flights but it still had some problems to work out
that did not happen till after the war
Richard K

The works of co-authors P. M Grosz and George Haddow are renowned in the world of aviation history literature and with their colleague Peter Schiemer have produced a most magnificiant volume. The operational application of the aircraft, developed for the army of Austro-Hungary, is covered in detail and affords the aviation researcher or collector of aviation history material a wealth of hitherto neglected fact.
"Flying Machines Press" have endorsed their splendid reputation for producing fine books by presenting 526 pages on high quality paper with copious illustration and an exhaustive bibliography.

This book, written by P.M.Gosz, G. Haddow and P. Schiemer, is a fantastic account of this little known branch of WWI history. It chronicles the development and operational history of the many and varied aircraft and the different companies who designed and built them for the Dual Monarchy. Regrettably, the second edition has the colour illustration section deleted from it as the authors and publishers felt that the fabric samples and colours on which the colour illustrations were based are not 100% authentic and that therefore, their accuracy was compromised. That aside this book is an absolute bible for anyone interested in this field of aviation history. The many rare and stunning photographs and large number of scale drawings of all the major and a great many of the lesser known types mean it is definitely one for the model maker. Even without the colour illustrations. . . 10/10. Superb.