Dénes Bernád

Denes Bernad is one of the best writers having their work published by MMP/Stratus, and I'm always impressed by the lengths that he'll go to. For this work he hunted down surviving Bulgarian fighter pilots, hit the archives, and literally rooted out every scrap of evidence to produce this book. Keeping in mind that model builders are one of the significant constituencies that Bernad is trying to assist, it was particularly interesting to learn that the German government of the 1930s, when selling warplanes, had a regulation against selling machines finished in the current Luftwaffe colors. This meant that aircraft were usually finished using the remaining paint stocks of the previous style. This is the sort of information that gives joy to "rivet counters" everywhere.

Besides that, the machines covered range from a few token Fokker D.VIIs, to the Bf 109E, with assorted other German, Polish, and Czech aircraft coming in between. The operational history is dominated by the efforts to contest the USAAF passing through Bulgarian airspace to hit targets further afield.

As for the second book in this duo, that is dominated by the use of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G, and other assorted castoffs; that will be a different review though.… (meer)

Continuing the story of the Hungarian fighter force of World War II, the emphasis here is on the use of the "G" version of the Bf 109 and the Reggiane Re.2000; the second being the type in which Istvan Horthy (the son of the Hungarian head of state) lost his life. The operational coverage concentrates on the late-war campaign with the USAAF, at least until Hungarian aviation ran out of fuel and trained pilots. One interesting treat is that of the authors explaining the techniques and analysis that goes into generating the many color profiles that illustrate the book.… (meer)