In the years between WWI and WWII, moviegoers in America may have thought they were watching wartime footage of aerial dogfights between Fokker D.VIIs and Sopwith Camels in such films as Hell’s Angels and Dawn Patrol. They may have been watching some of the surviving Fokkers, but in all likelihood, the nimble fighters with roundels on their wings were aircraft that never made it into military service during the Great War…instead, they were the small single-seat S4 ‘Scout’ trainers built by The Thomas Morse Aircraft Corporation in 1917-1918 that were considered surplus after the war.

Thomas Morse’s Scout probably ranks as the second best known American airplane of WWI…bumped out of the top spot by the venerable Curtiss Jenny. Although built in numbers during the last year of the war, this country’s first mass-produced WWI fighter/trainer gained its second place ranking for its many post-war roles in those Hollywood classics...and, as late as 1956, in Lafayette Escadrille. Also recognized by the often used nickname ‘Tommy’, this iconic aircraft has been the subject of a few model kits in both wood and plastic over the years and has been long overdue for a comprehensive overview in print.

Albatros Productions has answered that need in Datafile 166, Thomas Morse S-4 Scout by Colin A. Owers. In this new Datafile the author presents a very informative study that traces the history of the fledgling companies that evolved into the Thomas Morse Aircraft Corporation and how the S-4 Scout came to be. The interesting story is complimented by more than 70 archive photos and illustrated with a number of contemporary sketches and rigging notes from the 1918 S4C handbook. The center spread pages provide detailed scale drawings (complete with internal structural details) in 1:48 and 1:72 scale by skilled draftsman Martin Digmayer. Artist Ronny Bar contributes six diverse color profiles of Tommies, including one that represents a rare "Agressor-style” scheme complete with pseudo-German colors and markings for air-to-air combat training. And adding to this, the painting on the cover by artist Paul Monteagle portrays a typical staged Hollywood dogfight over the California desert sometime in the 1930s. In addition to the period photographs, there are 29 color photos illustrating virtually all the surviving aircraft in the USA and a sole European-based Tommy. Added to this is a full appendices that includes detailed color schemes and markings data, complete specifications and a listing of all Tommys that exist today.

Datafile 166 provides it all in a single well documented reference…a publication that might motivate some to build a model of the Thomas Morse S-4. It is this reviewer’s hope that Datafile 166 may also serve as an adequate reference and stimulus for another model kit manufacturer to give serious thought to releasing a state-of-the-art kit of this iconic fighter/trainer. The Tommy would make for a very tempting subject in 1:48 and 1:32…Are you listening Eduard and Wingnut Wings

This publication is highly recommended to WWI aircraft model builders and those with an interest in WWI aviation history. My thanks to Albatros Productions for providing the review copy of this excellent publication and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.