Book Review: Wings of the Black Cross - Number Five

By Floyd S. Werner Jr.

Title: Wings of the Black Cross - Number Five
Author: Mark Proulx
ISBN:978-0-9794035-3-8
Cost: $14.50

Eagle Editions has always provided the modeler with some great material, especially dealing with the Luftwaffe. The latest edition of this series has something for everyone. Printed on high quality paper the 36 page booklet includes numerous black and white photographs, most previously unpublished and unavailable. There are some color photos on the back cover and, of course, eight excellent color drawings on four pages.

For the 109 fan, (and who isn't?), there are photos that will satisfy everyone's pallet. Most of the photos are of wrecks but this in no way diminishes the value of photographs. Focke Wulfs are well represented as well. Especially interesting to me are some new FW-190S-8 photos. The two seat trainer aircraft are really unique looking. Me-262s and Bf-110s are shown to great advantage. The aircraft of Gruppenkommandeur Martin Drewes are shown including his day fighter variant of the Bf-110. Ju-88 night fighters are shown and some of the interesting paint schemes will be plenty of inspiration for the modeler. Various other aircraft are seen including Siebel Si-204, He-111, and He-177s.

The drawings are first rate. Two Bf-109s, two Bf-110s, three FW-190s and a Me-262 are all very colorful and I hope that Eagle Editions releases the decals for some of these machines. All the drawings are accompanied with information about the color and markings.

On the back cover are two color photographs, one of a partially destroyed He-219 and the other of a brand new Bf-109F next to an Emil.

The photos of a multitude of aircraft, the text, and the drawings all make this a very nice addition to any library. For Luftwaffe enthusiasts this volume is a wonderful presentation of Luftwaffe aircraft at various times in the war.

I highly recommend this volume, as well as, the rest of the series.

Thanks to Aeroplane Books for the review copy. To obtain your copy contact them at https://www.aeroplanebooks.com/. Let them know you heard about it here and check out the other great books on the site, including many out of print volumes.

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