Polish Wings No 7
PWS14, PWS 16, PWS 16 bis, PWS 26
PWS 18 (Avro 621)

Online & printed reviews

SAMI - Book of the Month August 2008.

Hyperscale.com
Reviewed by Steven Eisenman

The late 1920s and early 1930s was a period of transition for the Polish Air Force. Foreign built aircraft, particularly the French SPAD, had reached the end of their effective usefulness, not only as a combat aircraft, but also as a trainer. The aviation industry in Poland was beginning to grow. There emerged a new generation of domestically produced fighters and trainers.

With the growth of Polish aviation there was a clear need for the training of more pilots. While Poland had a reasonably good basic trainer in the RWD 8, it could be seen that more advanced trainers were needed.

One aircraft company, Podlaska Wytwornia Samolowtow (PWS; Podlasie Aircraft Factory) sought to meet this need with the introduction of the PWS 12, which finally entered Polish Air Force service, after some modification, as the PWS 14.

This newest in the Polish Wings series of monographs traces the development and use of the PWS series of trainers, from the PWS 14 through the PWS 26. Each successive model of the aircraft was intended to bring pilot training to a higher level. The PWS 16bis was to provide for better gunnery training and the final version, the PWS 26, allowed for training in blind flying.

This volume also covers a few survivors of the invasion of Poland that wound up in foreign hands. Some reached other countries as a result of pilots fleeing the defeat at the hands of the Germans, and others the Germans sold as war booty.

While the narrative of the PWS trainer development is in well-written English, most of the story is told through numerous and excellent photographs and profiles.

As in the prior monographs in the Polish Wings series, the profiles are well integrated with photographs of the actual aircraft. The photographs also receive detailed captions.

For modelers there is a tie-in with Techmod decals. However, the decals must be purchased separately. Techmod produced a sheet of 1/72 decals (No. 72138A) for the PWS-26 that provide markings for 26 aircraft, including Polish, Russian, Romanian and Bulgarian aircraft, based on the photographs in this Polish Wings monograph. A 1/72 model of the PWS-26 is made by RPM Models and is available from Squadron Mail Order, as well as from other retailers.

The only downside of this monograph, as far as I am concerned, is the lack of technical data about or line drawings of these aircraft. It would have been nice to see the specs, such as dimensions.


C o n c l u s i o n

This is clearly a monograph for a quite specialized audience. But that audience will be richly rewarded.

InternetModeler.com
By Chris Banyai-Riepl

The newest edition in the fascinating Polish Wings series examines pre-war Polish advanced trainers from the PWS company. These attractive aircraft trained class after class of new Polish pilots and helped restructure the Polish Air Force during the 1920s and 1930s. As with most trainers, the PWS aircraft have often been overlooked in aviation texts, but this book changes all that with page after page of photos, illustrations, and text.
The authors have done an excellent job of collecting information and presenting it in an easy to read format, which is good as this is likely to be the only monograph on these aircraft. As a trainer aircraft, their history is fairly sedate, as is their markings. The photos reveal the latter quite well, with the vast majority of these trainers finished in overall green. Subtle differences in the details, though, make the individual aircraft stand out, and through the color illustrations these differences are brought to light. In addition to the various Polish examples, this book also shows a handful of foreign PWS operators, including Romania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union.
For those interested in small air forces, this is an excellent series, and the latest title continues the high quality seen in previous editions. My thanks to Stratus for the review copy.

http://www.aerostories.org
review Phil Listemann

With this 7th issue of Mushroon’s series, “ Polish Wings ”, Mushroom is offering an unknown aspect of the aviation, the training aircraft of the Polish Air Force between the wars. Generally speaking, this part of the aviation is often forgotten, even if it is a step every pilot, from the less known to the most famous, has to pass through with more or less success. Indeed, without training and training aircraft, no exiting aviation stories, no aces... That is why to know what kind of training syllabus the Polish pilots had to follow before getting their wings is a point I would have appreciated to see.

Nevertheless, the booklet is full of very nice photographs of each training aircraft the Polish pilots flew before reaching the operational units, and many of these photographs are published for the first time. Each aircraft is introduced in a small chapter, but unfortunately no technical details are included. Also, it must be said that the colour drawings are superb. No big pretensions with this title, but for sure something interesting as little covered so far, and considering its price, it is a very good value, and useful for enthusiasts and modellers alike.

Recommended.

Cybermodeler.com
By Ray Mehlberger

This new book by Stratus, which is the associate company of Mushroom Model Publications (MMP), just arrived from Sandomierz, Poland in a large bubble pack lined envelope.

MMP is based in the UK, but has their books printed in Poland in English. They have numerous titles about aircraft and a few on armor. Some have already been reviewed here on Cybermodeler.

This new book is in soft-cover 11 ¾” x 8” format of 48 pages.

The latest in their “Polish Wings” series, it describes the development and operations of the major advanced trainers employed by the Polish Air Force prior to WWII. The PWS concern produced a range of trainer aircraft developed from the original PWS 12 of 1939. Delays in production of the PWS 16 led to the purchase of a license to build the Avro 621 in Poland, though the subsequent PWS 18 shared only it’s fuselage and tail with the 621. The wings were redesigned in Poland for wooden construction. Final development of the PWS designs was the PWS 26, an advanced trainer with dive-bombing and gunnery capabilities.

The book is profusely illustrated with rare black and white photos, from 1939 through WWII and post war. There are 160 of these. Two color paintings adorn the front and back cover of the book. The front cover shows two PWS 26s and the back cover a single PWS 26 in Bulgarian markings. There are six PWS 16 color profiles, four PWS 16 color profiles, five PWS 16 bis color profiles, eight PWS 18 (ex-Aero 621 “Tutor”) color profiles (one of which is a 3-view) and twenty-nine PWS 26 color profiles (two of which are 2-views and two that are 3 views). Two of the PWS 26 profiles show it in Romanian markings and one each profile are in Soviet and Bulgarian marks. Although there are 2 black and white photos of a PWS 26 in captured German markings, no color profile is provided to show this aircraft.

What is really neat is that the profiles are shown right next to black and white photos of the actual aircraft being illustrated.

This book covers the pre-war training activities of these aircraft, their brief involvement in the Polish campaign, and the fate of those aircraft which escaped from Poland to neighboring countries. The Germans, Russians, Romanians and Bulgarians all made use of surviving PWS trainers. The PWS 26 was also used for a time after WWII in Poland.

At the beginning of the book, there is illustrations of a 2 sheet set of decals that will shortly come on the market by Techmod. In co-operation with MMP/Stratus, they are doing decals to go on any one of the RPM kits of the PWS 26. RPM has 3 different boxings of this aircraft in prices around $7.00 each at Greatmodels. The decal sheet is set no. 72138A, however I went to the Techmod site and it is not listed yet there, nor a price mentioned. The 2 decal sheets will feature 26 aircraft based on photos and profiles published in this book.