This book in Kagero's Famous Airplanes series is on the PZL P.11c. It would be an understatement to say that this is the most well known Polish fighter of WWII. When it was first developed, it was considered to be one of the best fighters in the world. Developed from the P.1, it was almost the penultimate variant of the line with the P.24 taking those honors.

It was very much the mainstay of the Polish fighter arm in the late 1930s with it, and the earlier P.7a filling the ranks of the various squadrons. The type was outclassed by the Bf-109 and other types by this time, but P.11c pilots were quite experienced on the type and were able to exact some retribution on attacking German aircraft despite the type's obsolescence.

While the aircraft was a monoplane fighter, its fixed landing gear and braced wings belied its origins in biplane types. The interwar period was one where air arms of several nations were in need of quality, but inexpensive fighters and the introduction of the P.11 was much appreciated by some of the smaller European nations such as Bulgaria and Romania, who bought the type to fill their fighter needs.

In this book, the authors provide details not only on the development of the type, but its use in PAF service. Each squadron that used it is showcased with a history of its involvement in the war with Germany. This section is full of superbly done full color profiles of the aircraft in question as well as some nice period photos. This is followed by an extensive 'walk around' section of full color photos of the only complete extant example. Then there is a very large section of model builds covering kits in 1/32, 1/48, and 1/72 scale. Half the book consists of this feature. Finally, we have several pages of plans of the P.7a and P.11c in 1/72 and 1/48 scale with large additional foldouts of the P.11c in 1/32 and 1/24 scale.

This all makes for what is probably the most complete book on the type for both enthusiasts and modelers alike. Well worth picking up if you are a fan of the type and a book I can easily recommend to you.

February 2020

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