Volume 3 of the best Luftwaffe review/journal in the market is now on sale. Thick card covers, 184 large format pages on quality paper with a host of fascinating photos, artworks and articles from acknowledged Luftwaffe experts, attractively designed and laid out by Mark Nelson, who has his own Battle of Britain Me 109 feature in this issue. I won't list all the contents as I'm slowly working my way through the publication but some highlights;
-Tim Oliver presents a detailed biography over 20 pages of Hs 129 pilot Franz Birnbaum.
-Nick Beale with a diary record of a Ju 87 Nachtschlachter crew during the last months of the war on the Eastern Front.
-Chris Goss on KG 2 Me 410 ops over England.
-Sven Carlsen looks at KG 1 He 177s on the Eastern Front.
There are 12 lengthy articles in total plus 'Photo album', 'Reader feedback' and 'Axis library book review' pages. I'm looking forward to reading the Reggiane RE. 2000 feature (Mikael Olrog) - lets have more Italian fighters please, say, the G.50 in Finnish service, CR. 42 etc etc. For modellers planning to build a He 111 you need to read Alexander Steenbeck's feature on He 111 paint schemes.. The more 'technical' features in this issue cover anti-shipping radar (Martin Streetly and Andrey Kuznetsov) and Fw 190 high altitude fighters (Dietmar Hermann) while there is a comprehensive account by the editor of the activities of the 'Enemy Aircraft Servicing and Storage Unit' during 1945-46 which details a whole raft of flights and transfers undertaken by Luftwaffe aircraft - in particular of the 66 Ju 52s - that were flown to the UK after the war!
Given the amount of 'content' in Axis Wings it is excellent value and a 'must-have' for Luftwaffe enthusiasts. The text is always interesting, the photos of high quality and reproduced large, and the articles feature excellent maps, diagrams, Flugbuch and document extracts where appropriate with lots of informative captions. The colour profiles are superlative and feature 'cutaway' views of fuselage/cockpit area details where these would otherwise be obscured by wings/engines. Issue No. 4 of Axis Wings is in preparation. Issues 1-3 are still available via the Chandos website, following a limited reprint of Volume 1 along with a 'bundle' offer for all three.
To quote my friend Mike, this series is becoming a great source of knowledge for those of us that don't know everything already.
Don't miss them!
Go directly to the Chandos Publications website here