The non-profit UK based group known as the Great War Aviation Society publishes A new magazine, Contact!, is now available in both print and digital download. The first two issues of Contact! are available for a free digital download on their website. Their journal, Cross & Cockade International, is also published four times a year. Issues are available in English as printed [Softbound, A4 (8.27” x 11.69”), 72 pages [Including Covers] as well as digital copies (or both). The Society also provides a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front. The Great War Aviation Society also hosts a lecture series available through Zoom. If interested, you will need to register early as the call is limited in attendance. The Great War Aviation Society is also on Facebook and on X [Twitter].

The Summer 2024 of Contact! features a color illustration titled “Shining Through” by James Dietz. This was originally a 30” by 50” oil on canvas painting focused on a Sopwith Camel intercepting a flight of Jasta 16B Pfalz D.III in 1918. This cover is related to Nicole Greenslade’s article on Picture Perfect, which focused on James Dietz’ art. There are eight and a half pages of Great War advertising, including the inside front and rear covers and the rear cover. I counted 74 color photographs / illustrations and 60 black and white photographs / illustrations. There are also five color profile illustrations by Andy Kemp.

Keeping with the Sopwith theme, Andy Kemp focuses on Sopwith Camel F.1 B6385 in a four-page article. Beginning with the Battle of Cambrai on November 20, 1917, Andy traces the fate of the airframe and its pilot, Thomas John Kent. Kent spent over a year in flight training, but his active service was cut short after eighteen days. Shot down by ground fire, he ended the war as a German POW. His Sopwith Camel’s British roundels were quickly overpainted by the Germans. Modelers will be pleased that Aviattic provides a nice 1/32 decal set with both British and German markings for B6385 [ATT32386]. Andy Kemp’s color profiles show off the German markings on Page 19 along with a photograph of the remains of B6385 after spinning into the ground.

Gerard Lohan provides an update on another Sopwith Product with “Strutter”. The Sopwith 1½ Strutter came as either a single-seater or two-seater and was the first British aircraft to enter service with a propeller-synchronized machine gun. Initially led by Adam Smith of the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune, a team of volunteers committed to building a replica of the Sopwith Strutter. This twenty-four year effort had its share of adversity, but in the end, the results are worth it. A color photograph of the Sopwith Strutter is at the top of Page 30 as she was awaiting clearance for her first flight. Affectionately named “Sophie”, this replica achieved its first flight on September 17, 2024 [after this article was originally published].

Andrew Ferry provides an update on Craftlab GmbH activities in building and restoring historic aircraft in a four-page article. Make sure you check out their website. The top of Page 45 features a static reproduction of Oeffag Albatross D.III 253.01 followed by a pair of Fokker D.VIIIs operated by The Vintage Aviator Limited [TVAL] in New Zealand. Another TVAL asset is seen at the bottom of the page, in this case an Albatross D.II reproduction fitted with a Mercedes D.IIIa engine.

Paul Hare starts a promising series, To Take Up Arms, with Part 1, totaling three pages. Early aircraft in World War I were largely unarmed from a defensive standpoint. The British solution to adding machine guns was to mount them on the side of the fuselage next to the observer in the front cockpit. This provided plenty of obstacles, resulting in low flexibility. The Germans moved the observer to the rear seat offering significantly more flexibility. This is demonstrated on Page 49 with the top photograph illustrating the German Albatross CI two-seater and the bottom photograph illustrating the British solution. Still not sure why the pilot is smiling with a Lewis machine gun mounted on a No.4 Mk. I “Strange” gun mount inches from his face. Great War modeling was a standard feature in the Journal that is being moved to Contact!, taking full advantage of color photographs. Haris Ali’s entry this month is the Wingnut Wings 1/32 Sopwith Dolphin kit as seen on Page 57. The contents of this issue include:

Topics:

• Editor’s Letter: Call To Arms
• The Briefing Room
• The Signals Office
• The Quest To Be Best by David Hassard
• A Camel In Profile by Andy Kemp [Page 19]
• The Saddest Selfie? by Claire Hunter
• A Good Show For The Fellows In The Trenches by Michael Terry
• “Strutter” by Gerard Lohan [Page 30]
• Classic Aero Machining Services by David Brmner
• The Origins Of Aero Engines: Part One by Graham Mottram
• Craftlab GmbH by Andrew Ferry [Page 45]
• To Take Up Arms Part 1 by Paul R. Hare [Page 49]
• Photo Shoot: The Hythe Camera Gun by Paul R. Hare
• Modeling: The Sopwith Dolphin by Haris Ali [Page 57]
• Can The Aces Now Save The WWI Film Genre? by Daniel Arbon
• Peter Jackson’s Film Choices by Peter Dye
• Picture Perfect by Nicole Greenslade
• An Airman’s Outings Michael Terry

This was my first downloaded issue of Contact!, and my third printed copy, and the digital download is free! The emphasis is on more color than is common in the Cross & Cockade International journal. The articles are also more numerous and shorter than seen in the journal, but no less enjoyable. The overall goal of adding Contact! to the Great War Aviation Society appears to be grabbing some of the younger crowd with a digital product and more color. I certainly hope this works for the younger crowd, but there is material here for all ages. Did I mention the first two issues are free to download? If you are into early / WWI aviation, this magazine is for you!

My thanks to The Great War Aviation Society and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great issue.

Highly recommended!