Lela Presse based in Outreau, Boulogne-sur-Mer have launched their new web site ahead of a major revamp and overhaul of 'Avions' magazine due in February 2012. Issue 185, the first issue of 2012, will be the last of the current-look 'Avions' with the next and subsequent issues featuring a new page layout and design and an additional 24 pages per issue. There is invariably something of interest in each issue; No. 185 devotes 13 pages to the history of the Luftwaffe pilot training school FFS (Flugzeugführerschule) A/B 123 established for Croatian pilots in Zagreb following its transfer from Elbing during September 1941 and a further ten pages continuing the history of Polish fighter group III/3 vs. the Luftwaffe during September 1939.
Mechanics working on the BMW VI of this Dornier Do 17 E of 5./KG 77 (with kind permission of Avions editor Michel Ledet)
5. Staffel KG 77 crews go out to their Do 17s prior to a sortie
Visit the new-look Lela Presse web site now (via the magazine cover image link above) and get a free download of the new Lela Presse catalogue for 2012. The catalogue features a number of books of interest to Luftwaffe enthusiasts including the recent J-L Roba title devoted to the Me 323 which I looked at in June - one of my books of the year 2011 - and a number of new publications for 2012 including Philippe Couderchon's history of the French-built Fw 190s (price and release date not yet known). Exclusive cover image preview below. Designated NC 900, French Fw 190s were 'constructed' from huge stocks of spares in the underground factory at Cravant. The type was flown by the Normandie Niemen although proved extremely unpopular with the pilots who disliked having to fly a type that they had spent the war flying against. Around thirty NC 900s were flown at the CEV (Centre d'essais en vol) flight test centre. (below NC 900, image via Jean-Yves Lorant)
