This datafile, written by the great J. M. Bruce was originally published in 2000. It has long been sold out and has now been reprinted in limited quantities. This is great news for aviation enthusiasts who missed the book the first time and also to modelers who are the proud owners of recent kits from Roden and from Wingnut Wings.

This datafile is larger than most at 42 pages and the pages are full of great photos, a detailed discussion of the Felixstowe aircraft and detail photos of such areas as the cockpit, construction, armament etc. An excellent feature of the book is a discussion of Camouflage and Markings written by Ray Rimell which covers some of the great dazzle schemes applied to the Felixstowe. Profiles of these schemes are contained on the rear cover. As usual with the datafile series, detailed 1/48 and 1/72 scale multi-view drawings are included. These also contain information of the beaching trolley.

The name Felixstowe refers to the Royal Naval Air Station located at Felixstowe, Suffolk, England where most of the early flying boat development activity took place. An interesting part of the history of the flying boat concerns the interaction between John Porte of the Royal Navy and Glen Curtiss. Curtiss flying boats were used during the early development of the Felixstowe boats and Curtiss was the contractor for some of the components and the Felixstowe boats soon reached a performance plateau that allowed them to become a key element in the war against Germany including a couple of fights against German Zeppelins.

All in all, this book provides great coverage of the Felixstowe F.2A aircraft. The development history and war usages are interesting, the detail photos provide great information and the color and marking details will allow the modeler to make a really spectacular model. The price of this reprint is somewhat high but the book is well recommended. Both aviation enthusiasts and modelers will appreciate this great reprint.

A big thanks to Albatros Publications for reprinting this datafile and providing it to IPMS for review.