Windsock Centenary Datafile 171 Aviatik (Berg) D.I At War!

Published on
April 19, 2016
Review Author(s)
Book Author(s)
Paolo Varriale
Other Publication Information
April 2016, Softbound, A4 [8.27” x 11.69:], 36 pages
MSRP
$18.00
Product / Stock #
WindSock Centenary Datafile 171
Provided by: Windsock Datafiles - Website: Visit Site
Front cover

Italian historian Paolo Varriale has taken a new look at the Aviatik’s (Berg) D.I service in WWI.

A single seat fighter designed by Julius von Berg, the Aviatik D.I first flew October 16, 1916, unfortunately killing the test pilot. Approximately 677 airframes were built, and that constituted nearly 43% of the fighters accepted by the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Service. The Aviatik (Berg) D.I was light and fast, but suffered from poor manufacturing quality leading to an adverse reputation for shedding wings.

Peter M Gross’ Datafile number 45 has been long out of print, so it is about time that Windsock revisited Aviatik’s (Berg) D.I. The cover features a Roberto Zanella painting of Oblerleutnant Bela Macourek ‘s Aviatik (Berg) D.I. shooting down a DH4 on the Albanian coastline. Ronny Bar contributes nine large color side profiles, including 338.95, featuring a smartly dressed lady smiling on the side of a late production Aviatik D.I. I counted 84 photographs (including four in colour) and two tables.

Steve Simkin grabs the pullout centerfold with six pages of 1/48 general arrangement line drawings of the Aviatik (Berg) D.I. For those of you that still dabble in that odd 1/72 scale, Steve Simkin also provides you the same drawings on three pages. There are no 1/32 arrangement drawings so I’m guessing that rumored Wingnut Wings kit is a bit further out then we’d all like.

Sections include:

  • Color Plates – Ronny Bar (Back Cover)
  • Fast and Frail (Page 1)
  • A Promising Beginning
  • 185-hp Aircraft – Series 38, 48, 84, 201
  • 200-hp Aircraft – Series 138, 184, 92, 101, 115
  • 160-hp Aircraft – Series 238, 248, 284
  • 225-hp Aircraft – Series 338, 348, 384, 315 (Page 10)
  • At the Front (Page 22)
  • Aviatik D.I 1/72 General Arrangement Drawings – Steve Simkin (Page 13)
  • Aviatik D.I 1/48 General Arrangement Drawings – Steve Simkin
  • The Forgotten War in Albania
  • Colours and Markings (Page 29)
  • Aviatik D.I Survivors
  • Key to Colour Plates
  • Bibliography (Page 33)
  • Acknowledgements
  • Footnotes
  • Appendices
    • Aviatik D.I Specifications (by airframe manufacturer)
    • Aviatik D. I Production Orders (by airframe manufacturer)

Paolo Varriale kicks off the Aviatik (Berg) D.I's troubled development history that failed to reconcile the airframe’s promise of a “fabulous climb and enormous maneuverability” with its shoddy manufacturing quality. Mr. Varriale weaves in the hard data with the era’s politics and achieves an effective story narrative. Hauptmann Karl Sabeditsch claimed the type’s first victory on May 23, 2017. I really enjoyed Paolo Varriale’s use of pilot reports on both sides of the battle to bring life (and death) to this latest Datafile. A nice bonus are the four color photographs (Page 33) of the fabric remains of three aircraft.

This is a superb reference, and is absolutely essential to building your kits of the Aviatik (Berg) D.I. Check out Bob Laskodi’s colorful 1/48 Flashback (Eduard) kit of Linke-Crawford’s mount build here: http://modelingmadness.com/review/w1/laskodiaviatik.htm Highly recommended!

My thanks to Albatros Productions Ltd. and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

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