Something a bit different from AirDoc in that it doesn't cover a modern German aircraft. This time, it is the first part of two on the de Havilland Mosquito as used by the Israeli Air Force.

As with many things concerning the early years of the Israeli Air Force, there is a lot of skullduggery and intrigue as often times those who had the materials needed were unwilling to sell to the Israelis for various reasons. This meant that many of the early aircraft had to be purchased through intermediaries, often people of questionable character. However, one does what one has to do and many of the early aircraft of the IAF were obtained in this manner.

Aside from the first few, the Mosquito does not fall into this category. All the remaining IAF aircraft were purchased from the French, who also overhauled the aircraft prior to their shipment to Israel.

This first volume covers not only this information, but also the difficulty in finding trained crews, the training of those crews in the UK, the establishment of the first squadrons and the somewhat high accident rate of the aircraft. This latter was mostly due to pilot error, though the official finding were quick to blame technical and airframe defects. This gave the Mosquito a less than sterling reputation.

As with others in the series, it is a dual German/English language book and the translation is top-notch. Combined with the most reasonable price, superb photographs and an intriguing story, this one is a must have for your shelves.

My thanks to AirDoc for the review book. You can find these at your local hobby shop and if not, ask them to order them for you. You can also order direct by e-mailing them at www.airdoc.eu

November 2006

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