Henschel Hs 126
Model Aircraft Monthly
SAMI
Review by Paul E. Eden
Given the
excellence of Peczkowski¹s earlier volume on the Me 210/410, it
comes as no surprise to find that his co-authoring of Hs 126 has
influenced
a superb book.
Termed by Mushroom as a Maxi Size book, it has some 208 pages, carrying
the
usual mix of evolution (with variants depicted in detailed 1:72 scale
drawings), operational history (primarily pictorial), detail (using
photographs and manual drawings) and colour artwork. The latter, over 36
pages, includes a surprising variety of schemes and while it¹s not
vintage
Mushroom, it¹s still very good.
The Hs 126 is another of my favourite aircraft regular readers, I make
no
excuse for having so many favourites and this book satisfies me
immensely.
It should also satisfy anyone modelling the Hs 126, or Luftwaffe
aircraft in
general and it is a fine addition to the Mushroom catalogue and to our
reference libraries.
The book can be purchased for £17.99 from your favourite specialist
retailer, or for £19.50, including postage and packing in the UK and
Europe,
direct from the publisher at 36 Ver Road, Redbourn, Hertfordshire, AL3
7PE,
UK
InternetModeler.com
Review by By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Tackling
one of the lesser-known fields of aviation, the latest book from
Mushroom examines an attractive Luftwaffe observation aircraft, the
Henschel Hs 126. Given that the observation mission is the oldest
military role for aircraft, it is surprising that more titles are not
out there on these interesting types. Perhaps this book will help
rekindle interest in observation types, at least during the Second World
War.
The Henschel Hs 126, along with the Westland Lysander, marked the
pinnacle of traditional observation and army cooperation aircraft. With
its excellent slow-speed handling and high wing, the Hs 126 was a steady
reconnaissance platform. However, the dramatic improvements in fighter
aircraft quickly rendered the type obsolete, and soon the Fw 189 began
to replace the Hs 126 in combat units. Still, the Henschel soldiered on,
performing admirably against guerilla and partisan forces, where the
threat from aerial fighters was minimal. Additionally, the Hs 126 found
its way into the air forces of several nations, including Spain, Greece,
and Estonia, among others.
For those unfamiliar with the Mushroom Orange Series, this book provides
a comprehensive look at the aircraft, from its development to its
operational record and foreign service. In addition to the historical
context, the book also includes copious detail photos and period photos,
all of which will be useful to both the historian and modeler alike.
Completing the book is no less than fifty aircraft in illustration, with
many of those including multiple views. The Hs 126 tended to be bland in
general, but camouflage requirements led to many of these aircraft
adopting interesting temporary schemes.
This is another great addition to the Mushroom Orange series, and a nice
counterpoint to the many books out there on the Lysander. This should be
a welcome part to any Luftwaffe reference library. My thanks to Mushroom
for the review copy.
It is what
I call a good idea. So far, not much has been published on this aircraft,
and this book is very welcome to fill the gap. Even if this monoplane is
very known of the French and British pilots in the first year of the
war, this aircraft is sometimes forgotten because it is not enter into
the fighter or bomber category, but in the co-operation aircraft
category like was the Lysander. Nevertheless, this aircraft was one of
the clue which made possible the success of the Blitzkrieg in 1940,
because the Hs126 was the eyes of the Panzers. But losses were high, and
its withdrawal from front line units accelerated after 1940. The final
withdrawal occurred in 1942, and the Hs126 was then used in other roles
until the end of the war but far from the spotlights.
Like the Hawker Hart family published in the same series, the structure
of the book is similar. After introduction on the type, the author
describes the few variants of the Hs126, followed by the operational use.
A very good point for the book, is the list of all the known units of
the Luftwaffe which were equipped at a time with the Hs126 giving good
references to the reader. The latter can find many nice photographs,
many being little known or unpublished, and for this, the purchase of
this book becomes compulsory for anyone who find an interest in the
Luftwaffe. Among the oddities, the Estonian machines, which were later
repainted with the Red start when Estonia was invaded by the Soviet
Union in 1940.
As usual with this series, a special part is reserved for the modellers
with photos of detail of all parts of the aircraft. Some technical
drawings taken from the technical manual is also added. At the end of
the book 20 pages of colour profiles illustrate the book.
So, without hesitation I can recommend the book because it gives the
best reference for the moment on the type, with good photographs, a
condensed text, and many illustrations.
Phil Listemann
ModelingMadness.com
Reviewer: Scott Van Aken
This new
book from Mushroom Models Publications is on the Henschel Hs-126, a type
that isn't exactly on the top of everyone's 'cool aircraft' list. Yet
this workhorse provided sterling service to the Luftwaffe throughout the
war despite production stopping in 1940 after some 900 had been
constructed. The termination of production was following the types high
losses during the Battle for France.
This showed that in order for observation types like this to be
effective, they had to operate in a climate where there was total air
superiority. The HS-126, like the British Lysander, was pretty well a
sitting duck for enemy fighters as it was unable to speed away and had
no real air to air offensive capabilities.
This book on the 126 is superbly done, as are all in this series. There
is a full development history along with the subtypes produced. Then the
book goes into a description of the airframe itself, including the
various systems and armaments carried.
The meat of the book is in its operational history. Most of this is with
the Luftwaffe, starting with the Condor Legion in Spain and going
through the various theaters of operation. A place where these types
were quite effective was in the Balkans and Russia where they were used
for anti-partisan operations on one hand and for spotting and general
reconnaissance in the other. The Russian campaign was one where local
air superiority was often easy to maintain so allowed the 126 to perform
its primary function. A few were provided to other nations and a few
were captured during the war and those are covered as well.
Next section is as much of a 'walkaround' as one can get without a fully
extant airframe. Period photos and diagrams from the technical manuals
come in very handy in this section. There are artifacts of the aircraft
which exist and photos of those bits are included. Perhaps one day a
full airframe will emerge. Of course there are many pages of superbly
drawn profiles, something these books are well known for providing.
In all, it is another exemplary book from the folks at Mushroom Models
Publication. The finest I've seen on the type and one that I know you
will enjoy reading and find useful for your projects. An added bonus is
that this one is a full 208 pages.
September 2008
Cybermodeler.com
By Ray Mehlberger
Mushroom
Model Publications is based in the UK. Their books are printed in Poland,
in the English language, by Stratus.
This book is in their usual format of soft-cover in 9” x 6 ½” format.
However, this new book has more pages in it than usual, at 208 of them
and the cover announces that it has EXTRA CONTENT.
This latest book from Mushroom Model Publications (MMP) describes the
design, development and operational use of the Hs 126, the principal
German Army co-operation aircraft of the Luftwaffe in the early years of
WWII. A classic high-wing monoplane, designed for short take-off and
landing and good visibility for the observer, it was the German
equivalent of the RAF’s “Lysander”. It faired equally badly when faced
with enemy opposition!
The Henschel Hs 126 remained in front-line service rather longer than
the Lysander, as the Luftwaffe could establish air superiority on some
fronts, but was rapidly replaced by faster and more potent aircraft as
these became available. In second-line service, the Hs 126
was used as a trainer and tow plane, but late in the war it found a new
operational niche as a short-range night bomber on the Eastern Front.
The Hs 126 was used by several air arms: In Spain – 6 were used by the
Legion Condor and after the Civil War 5 were sold to Spain, Lithuania –
got one when Polish anti-aircraft fire damaged it and it landed in
Lithuania and was interned, the USSR captured 5, Sweden got 5 when they
landed there and were interned, Greece ordered 16 in 1939, Estonia
bought 6 and Australia got one captured one.
All versions of the Hs 126 are described and illustrated. There are 268
black and white wartime photos, one color photo on the cover, 45 color
profiles and 15 black and white line drawings in 1/72nd scale
Aircraft illustrated in the profiles are:
Hs 126V-2 (illustrated twice. Once with an in-line engine and once with
a radial)
Hs 126V-3
Hs 126A-0 (illustrated four times)
Hs 126A-1 (illustrated four times)
Hs 126B-1 (illustrated 29 times. Four times in winter white wash and
once on skis. Once illustrated with a tow hook and once with skis)
All the above in Luftwaffe markings.
Hs 126B-1 in Estonian markings
Hs 126B-1 in captured USSR markings
Hs 126K-1 in captured British markings
Hs 126K-1 in Greek marking
Hs 126B-1 in Latvian markings
Hs 126B-1 in captured British markings
Hs 126B-1 (illustrated twice in Legion Condor markings)
Twelve of these color illustrations are 2-views, showing the aircrafts
in profile and under the wings. Another 5 are 2-views showing the
aircrafts in profile and above the wings. Two more are 3-views showing
the aircrafts in profile and above and below the wings. One illustration
is a 4-view that shows the aircraft in winter-white wash from both sides,
top and bottom.
There are 15 color photos of engines out of Hs 126’s in the Polish
Aviation Museum in Krakow. One is the BMW 032 used in the first series
Hs 126A and the other is the Bramo engine.
An additional 17 color photos of the walk-around type are from the
Aviation Museum in Berlin. These show a small section of the Hs 126’s
fuselage, a wheel and landing gear leg and the tail unit that is stored
there, but not yet restored at all.
There are no less than 79 illustrations out of a Hs 126 tech manual.
The Henschel Hs 126 is offered as kits by Matchbox (kit no. MBX26 -
$17.05) and Revell of Germany (Kit no. REV04398 - $15.50) both in 1/72nd
scale and available at Great Models.. There is a 1/48th scale resin kit
by Hand-Made Limited Kits brand (kit no. MPHML003 - $87.45) also at
Great Models. Squadron brand makes a vacuformed canopy for the Hs 126 in
1/72nd scale (set no. SQT9127 - $2.65) at Great Models.
This book will be a valuable reference to do any one of these kits or
great reading for the arm chair aircraft historian. Highly recommended.
The back of the book announces a future release of “Potez 63 Family”,
the reprint of “Westland Lysander” and a new “Gloster Gladiator” book.