Russian Fighter Aircraft 1920-1941: (Schiffer Military History)

I read this booklet on November 3, 2011.

This was a very enjoyable short read. It is mainly a photo album with limited text. It provides a very good, but short, description of the development of these historically noteworthy fighters. It focuses mainly on the Polikarpov I-5, I-15 and I-16 aircraft. The photos are very comprehensive. Their quality, considering the time frame, is good to very good.

Side note: On the top right of page 2 is a Tupolev TB 3 (ANT 6) bomber, showing the 'Svjeno-Aviamatka' system. It is in flight with an I-5 on top of each wing, an I-16 under each wing and a I-Z (Grigorovich I-Zet) being released (?) from beneath the fuselage. When it took off it was carrying 5 fighters. AWESOME!!! Talk about the German Mistel show more configuartion, the British Short Mayo Composite and the U.S. FICON project. I hope to find more data on this Russian configuration. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Correction - upon further research, the fuselage aircraft was not part of the takeoff. It hooked up later, which is what the photograph is showing. show less