Customer Reviews

Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War I (Aircraft of the Aces)

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Intended as a 1917 replacement for outdated British reconnaissance aircraft, Bristol's two-seater F2 aircraft possessed tremendous potential that could turn it into a tiger if proper air-fighting tactics were used. Numerous RFC/RAF crews who flew the F 2A/B as if it was a single-seat fighter with a stinger in its tail became aces over France, Italy and Palestine. Author Jon Guttman relates their exploits in this volume, #79 in Osprey's 'Aircraft of the Aces' series.

The Bristol fighter racked up quite a record given that it first saw combat in April 1917. By war's end over 120 F 2 pilots and almost 130 "Biff" observers claimed five or more kills in the aircraft. Many of the two-man teams boasted aces in the front and back cockpits. The top pilot scorer was 11 Squadron's Andrew McKeever with 31 victories. Top-scoring backseater was 22 Squadron's Charles Gass with 39 claims! Other top-scoring pilots included 'Siffy' Thompson with 30 claims; Alfred Atkey, 29; John Gurdon and Dennis Latimer with 28 each; Tom Middleton, 27; and 'Jim' Harvey, 'Bull' Staton and Bill Thomson, all with 26 claims. No observer approached Gass' total, the closest being another 22 Squadron backseater, Ron Fletcher, credited with 26 kills. Clearly Bristol crews were as aggressive as their compatriots flying Camels and SE 5s.

Guttman does a workmanlike job of detailing the combat exploits of the various pilots and observers. The book features over 100 black and white photographs of aircrew, aircraft and kills along with 10 pages of color profiles by Harry Dempsey. The book also has a dynamite cover depicting two F 2Bs engaging a yellow Fokker Triplane; shades of "G-8 and His Battle Aces!"

World War I air combat enthusiats will enjoy this latest addition to the Osprey Aces series. Recommended.

I would have given the book 5 stars if there was more detail information on how the plane was create and where was the Vicker machine place on the front part of the plane. The book doesn't state whether the Vicker machine gun was on the left side, right side, or on top of the engine. I look at the pictures, but I couldn't find where the gun was place. There was also no information on the strength and weaknesses of the airplane compare to those of the German and Austrian fighter planes. Finally, there was no information on what were the circumstances where the British decide to switch tactics to make the plane a deadly adversery and who were the persons that forced the British High Command to adopt the new tactics. I love the chapter about the plane's role in Palestine and was surprise that the Germans had lost about 50 planes in that area.