Aircraft of World War I 1914-1918

by Jack Herris, Bob Pearson (Illustrator)

Illustrated with detailed artworks of combat aircraft and their markings, 'The Essential Aircraft Identification Guide: Aircraft of WWI' is a comprehensive study of the aircraft that fought in the Great War of 1914-18. Arranged chronologically by theater of war and campaign, this book offers a complete organizational breakdown of the units on all the fronts, including the Eastern and Italian Fronts. Each campaign includes a compact history of the role and impact of aircraft on the course of the conflict, as well as orders of battle, lists of commanders and campaign aces such as Manfred von Richtofen, Eddie Rickenbacker, Albert Ball and many more. Every type of aircraft is featured, including the numerous variations and types of well-known models, such as the Fokker Dr.I, the Sopwith Camel and the SPAD SVII, through to lesser-known aircraft, such as the Rumpler C.1, and the Amstrong Whitworth FK8. Each aircraft profile is accompanied by exhaustive specifications, as well as details of individual and unit markings. Packed with more than 200 color profiles of every major type of combat aircraft from the era, 'The Essential Aircraft Identification Guide: Aircraft of WWI' is an essential reference guide for modelers, military historians and aircraft enthusiasts.

Genres: Aviation, History, Aircraft, World War I

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2010

About the author

Jack Herris has a long history with aviation. His parents started dating while car-pooling together to North American Aviation during WW2. Jack’s father built P-51s, including parts for the first P-51 Mustang ever built, and his mother built B-25s.

In 1971, Jack graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He then served as a Naval Aviator, flying P-3B Orion aircraft with VP-46.

After leaving the navy he worked in the Laser Fusion Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, then worked in the high tech industry in Silicon Valley. He holds CFI, CFI-I, CFI-ME, ATP, and Learjet type ratings. Jack is a long-time member of the League of WWI Aviation Historians, and before that the Cross & Cockade Society, and has written more than a dozen articles on WWI aircraft published in their quarterly journal, Over the Front and has edited several issues of that journal. He brings insight into these aircraft both from his engineering and military pilot experience. In 1992 he founded Flying Machines Press to publish aviation history books and after publishing a number of titles, sold Flying Machines Press in 2000. He became a repeat offender by starting Aeronaut Books, which published its first two new aviation books in November 2010.

For more information, see the website at www.aeronautbooks.com. Jack has written the following books on WWI aircraft: Pfalz Aircraft of World War I SPAD Two-Seat Fighters of World War I Aircraft of WWI: 1914–1918 Development of German Warplanes in WWI German Seaplane Fighters of WWI Nachtflugzeug! German N-Types of WWI Pfalz Aircraft of World War I Gotha Aircraft of World War I Germany’s Triplane Craze Germany’s Fighter Competitions of 1918

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of the series is a little misleading; this is not so much an identification guide as it is a well-illustrated overview of aircraft employed in the First World War. In a series of short chapters, Jack Herris and Bob Pearson talk about the types of planes employed on the various fronts during given periods, with box summaries of their performance details and anecdotal stories about their use.

The value of the book is threefold. The first is the numerous illustrations of the planes. These are the book’s most obvious attraction, and they provide colorful depictions of the planes themselves. The second is the book’s comprehensiveness: while the air war on the Western Front understandably receives the most coverage, there are chapters addressing as well the other fronts of the war and the use of aircraft in naval warfare and strategic bombing. Finally, there is the text itself. Though short, the narrative is nicely descriptive, while the aeronautical details are presented in a way that helps the reader understand the science behind the planes’ designs and why or why not they worked.

These factors make the book an excellent introduction to the planes that fought in the first air war. Though readers seeking a detailed examination of air warfare or dramatic tales of the pilots dueling in the skies will want to look elsewhere, anyone seeking to learn about the planes themselves and their employment throughout the conflict would be hard pressed to find a better place to begin.

[TheHenry Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read about 15 books on World War I aviation by now, and if I had to pick the best all-arounder, this would be it. Nice illustrations make it a pleasure to view. More importantly, the book is well-organized and well-written.

[Baustman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great source for aviation buffs! The color profiles and squadron structure data are excellent.

[J Grimsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I not really an expert in this - I enjoyed it and have read Biggles Spoiler the Germans and Austro-Hungarian's and Ottoman empire lost.

[Todd Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent illustrations. But not really a guide. More a short overview of the development of aviation in World War I.

[Rick Chollett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. I was not aware of the huge extent of air operations in WWI.

[Richar Risch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on World War 1 aircraft. Contains lots of facts about the aircraft, but more important the unknown history behind the curtain of the war. Some amazing exploits are revealed as well as their operational missions. It's a great little book.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly deceptive book. I have come to this publisher for their strong way with pictorial content, and for providing just enough information to appease my casual interest in whatever the subject at hand might be. I thought I'd get something similar here, too – after all, this is not just a history of the air forces of World War One, but a very visual spotter's guide, if you like, to all the different plane models used. And we do get those visuals – every single plane imaginable (and some early French affairs that are quite beyond imagining they'd ever get off the ground) in side profile, with details of insignia if relevant, and a table of statistics where possible. But the deceptiveness comes in that, once we have seen what we think is the balance between images, tables of data for the completist and other things, we actually realise there is a lot more narrative text here than expected. Some of it's not that well designed, unfortunately – one story seems to have finished, but no, there's another paragraph widowed and dumped three pages away, and I don't know why every sub-section needed a newspaper-styled headline précis first.

So the book taught me that the publishers here can do text books, too, and it's not just their visual acuity that is so great. The actual text here taught me a lot, too, but it's much more suited to the military historian. I'd have liked more context from before 1914 – what were all these companies doing in peace-time, where had they come from to end up engineering these craft? So I suspect people coming to this book for the visuals will find too much forensic historical detail, and the specialist will be happiest with the compilation of fabulous artwork. To those people – those who, when asked to speak about the German fighter ace von Richthofen, answer back "which one?" - this will me a manual from heaven. For the general browser, such as I, three and a half stars.

[Rebecca Batley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is extremely detailed and informative. The pictures are both clear and beautiful. This was an excellent book to interest students looking at ww1 and expand their knowledge, I would highly recommend this book.

[Edward Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent little book about virtually all aircraft that flew in WWI. The illustrations of the planes are detailed right down to not only squadron/staffel markings, but also the pilots' own personal plane markings. There are detailed notes about the performance/specs of each plane as well. If you're a modeler or WWI air combat buff, this is a must have.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book whose major appeal is pretty pictures, this is a remarkably good book. It gives a very good, very concise description of the "big picture" of WW1 air combat. It has chapters covering the all the major fronts, plus minor ones like the Middle East. Highly recommended.

[John Muriango · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief but great history of the infancy and development of the air force, air warfare , and also of the industry itself during the World War I. This has helped me to understand how I view these today, in light of their early days.

Highly recommend it.