Avia S-199 in Israeli Air Force Service Book Review

By Kelly Jamison

Review

This book is the second book in an excellent series written by Alex Yofe and Lawrence Nyveen and White Crow Publications which have proven themselves as subject matter experts in early IAF subjects. The series of books cover the T-6 Texan, P-51, Spitfire, and very interesting B-17 used to start the fledgling Air Force.

The subject of the Avia S-199 seems to be a rare aircraft with little documentation in either Czechoslovakian form and in Israeli form. This book alone quadruples the amount of information available. About the only other book out there on the subject is the very good Avia S-199 & CS-199 in Detail by Wings and Wheels Publications. It is getting harder to find and focuses mainly on a few Czech museum S-199’s. This book focuses more on the operational history of the aircraft in Israel.

Most pictures are published for the first time in these books. Although they range in quality, they are outstanding in subject matter and relevance to the story being told. There is more verbiage in an easy to read font telling of pilot’s exploits and daily life of these men. I found it enjoyable to read and a very good companion to the pictures. They struck just the right balance there.

The color profiles are extremely well done by the artist, (who happens to be the author too!) has picked very interesting schemes to reproduce and cover the span of the different schemes that were found through the years. Mr Yofe expanded his color profiles to other aircraft used in the IAF.

This book is well produced and well laid out and easy to read. The excellent photos are stunning in their historical value. This book is a must for the modeler or historian studying this aircraft and the history it played in Israel’s 1948 conflict. Look out for White Crow Publications other products.