Product Description

The Fokker Eindecker (monoplane) can truly be said to have begun the age of fighter aviation. With the development of its revolutionary synchronised system that enabled the machine gun to fire through the propellor, Fokker E I pilots caused consternation in the Allied air services as they began to reap a harvest of victims in the summer of 1915. While the first victory with a Fokker E-type is now believed to have been earned by Kurt Wintgens on 1 July 1915, it was the exploits of Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke that made the machine legendary. These men, along with others such as Parschau and Hohndorf, received the adulation of the German public along with such honors as the first awards of the coveted Blue Max. They created the tactics and principles of German fighter aviation as they did so, developing doctrine that is still relevant to today's fighter pilots.

However, by the end of 1916, the glory days of the lone hunter and his Fokker Eindecker were over. They were replaced by a succeeding generation of biplane fighters which would be flown in new formations - the Jagdstaffeln or 'hunting groups'. The story of these first Fokker and Halberstadt biplane fighters and their pilots concludes this volume.

RELATED TITLES
German Air Force 1914-1918 (Elite)
Fokker Dr 1 Aces of World War I (Aicraft of the Aces)
American Aces of World War I (Aircraft of the Aces)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #622399 in Books
• Brand: Osprey Publishing
• Published on: 2006-10-31
• Released on: 2006-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781841769974
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Color profiles and planform drawings will help immesnly with several new kits of the fascinating, pioneering Fokker Eindekers. Early Fokker and Halberstadt biplanes and captured Nieuports are also covered." -Aerospace Modeler (January 2009)

"This was a kick ass book." -Alex Ness, popthought.com

One of the "top picks for specialized military holdings." -California Bookwatch

"Fans of World War I German aces will be pleased with this history." -Fred Rick Boucher, AeroScale (October 2006)

"Early German Aces of World War I chronicles the life and times of men and machines who were responsible for the supremacy which marked German aerial combat history in 1915-16...with characteristic thoroughness, as Osprey books provide... It is definitely a work that belongs in your World War I aviation library." -Jim McCloskey, Aerodrome

"It is a superb look at the early years and development of fighter aircraft, ever-changing tactics and the men who flew them. A book that you'll find as thoroughly intriguing as did I and one I can recommend without reservation." -Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com

About the Author
Greg VanWyngarden had had a lifelong interest in World War 1 aviation, and has been particularly active in deciphering the colours and markings that decorated the various German fighters flown by the leading aces. This is his third book for Osprey. The author lives in St Charles, Iowa.

Customer Reviews

Fokker Eindeckers Sweep the Skies over the Western Front!
If the German Air Service didn't invent air combat, they certainly contributed much to its initial development. Once German fighters were equipped with a forward-firing machine gun in 1915 - courtesy of Tony Fokker's Eindecker monoplane - intrepid pilots like Oswald Boelcke, Max Immelmann, Hans-Joachim Buddecke, Wilhelm Frankl and Gustav Leffers set about sweeping the skies of Allied aircraft and, in doing so, created many of the tactics and formations subsequently utilized by all fighter pilots. Greg VanWyngarden summarizes the exploits of these early Fokker pilots in this Osprey "Aircraft of the Aces" volume, #73.

VanWyngarden does a good job of relating the creation of the machine-gun armed fighter and the resulting 'Fokker scourge.' Along with relating numerous air combats, he also supplies a human face to the long-ago 'Hun' pilots - the brilliant fighter ace/tactician Boelcke, the rather foppish Max Immelmann, the grimly determined Rudolf Berthold, the playboy Ernst Freiherr von Althaus and so on. These were the days of the lone hunter and Germany's pilots were as fascinating as they were deadly.

The book features over 100 photographs, some quite rare, and 10 pages of color profiles by Harry Dempsey.

This is a marvelous chronicle of the early days of air combat. It's amazing when looking at the photographs of the Eindecker monoplanes to think that those rather flimsy aircraft were the F-15 of their day!

Recommended for all air war afficiandos.

good basic resource
This little book is a valuable resource for those wishing to know something of the early German aces of the "Fokker Scourge" period. Informative text, good photographs.

German Air service pilots in WW I
A first class basic reference book and well worth the price. I intend to add more in the series to my collection