Albatross D. Va. by Robert C. Mikesh (1980)

[fsbof]

I bought my copy at NASM in 1980 and, except for a few pages at the back, it's still holding together. Get if you can find it.

[Hans]

Mine has to be handled with care. It consists of 32 pieces already...

H

[StephenLawson]

One is in a three ring binder. One is in an accordian type folder by chapters. One is in a clear bag intact with the air removed and sealed.

[cduckworth]

When mine came apart years ago I pulled back the cover and spread a very light coat of Elmer's wood glue down the spine. Then the cover was put back on and I use three of the large metal paper clips to hold everthing in place while it dried. I've read in several times since and it's still holding up to the repairs.

Don't overlook the Bleriot and American DH-4 restoration books in this series as well - all are worth it.

['14-'18aviationcollector]

The book is absolutely fantastic! It is possible to criticise this book and its contents, but the positive attributes of this book far outweigh the negatives. The author has documented the restoration process reasonably thoroughly, and it would be difficult to improve on the contents of this book. The binding on the other hand is a slightly different story .....

You could fix it as cduckworth has suggested, but I prefer to leave mine in loose page form because it is easy to remove pages as required, or to just leave them in their plastic sleeves, which offers them a great deal of protection.

[Patrick]

I have two copies, both in bookseller "fine" condition. Their bindings are tight, no loose pages & flexible, but I'd be afraid to open either of them totally flat; you can hear the glue crackle.

It's a great book, the first restoration of the plane is described in detail & lots of good history and technical background material. Robert Mikesh is a talented writer too; his book is an enjoyable read. If you can get a copy for a reasonable price, do it. The ones available through abebooks are off the scale:

AbeBooks: Search Results - ISBN 0874746337

I wish they'd issue a revised & updated edition with more color photography.

[Martin Irvine]

There is a copy on Ebay - $9.50 with 3 days to go.

Albatros D.Va Famous Aircraft of NASM. Rare OOP! - eBay (item 270293984488 end time Nov-03-08 18:06:09 PST)

Martin

['14-'18aviationcollector]

They do appear on eBay reasonably regularly, and usually they are in good condition. I guess mine broke because I read it so often, and still do when I am thinking about the Albatros and how it goes together. Once mine started to break I didn't worry about it too much, I just completely disassembled it and put into plastic sleeves. It is very easy to read that way. It must be possible to keep this book intact, but you would have to be very careful with it. As Patrick said, you certrainly can hear the glue crack when you open the pages, particularly if you try to open them out flat.

[Biber]

Having been a MAJOR Albatros DIII/DV fan for many years I did back flips (not literally mind you) when I stumbled on a copy for next to nothing about ten years back. Unfortunately it sort of ruined my the star-struck love for the NASM Albatros, finding out that most of what you see isn't original. Great book though.

B

['14-'18aviationcollector]

I know what you mean about the NASM Albatros. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of the original structure used as well. They really did start with a very rotten structure, and I am sure they did the best they could do with the technology available at the time, but what astounds and disappoints me about museum practice is that they could for example have saved a lot more of the original structure I believe. Even if rotten timber is not suitable to be used in the airframe, it can be re inforced and could be retained as relic seperate from the original structure. There was mention made in the text of the possibility of re inforcing rotten timber but this was not done I don't believe. Look at the plywood skin for example. Cutting it into small pieces and selling it off is as bad as doing the same with the flying surface fabric. Those rotten pieces are the original aeroplane, and as small pieces they don't mean anything much. I think that musems do these things because they have deadlines and just can't afford the time that a lot of us would love to dedicate to such a project - although of course they do dedicate enormous amounts of time, effort and money to these projects. I am sure that storage of such items would be a headache as well. Discarding any original piece, no matter how damaged is a very primitive practice, and yet it still happens today. I don't mean to be controversial, and I am aware that museums have restrictions which might make them think differently to the way you and I do, but there is a lot of room for improvement. I know that removing the Albatros skin in large pieces, rather than breaking it into smaller pieces would have added a lot of time and expense to the project, but the plywood skin is the original structure. Imagine how worthwhile it would have been to be able to see large pieces of the skin, or the entire structure re created and on display as well as the original, restored aeroplane. The attitude towards original aeroplane components sometimes demonstrates carelessness, and is very distressing to myself and many other researchers I am sure. I have said this before. Imagine if an original painting had its' fabric, with the paint on it, removed, because it was in poor condition, then a new piece of fabric with completely new paint applied to its' surface was attached to the frame. No museum and the public would not allow that, yet it happens all the time with First World War aeroplanes. Basically all that is achieved is to turn an original aeroplane into a replica or part replica. Where is all the original fabric from the Halberstadts which were restored recently? I saw a few pieces for sale on eBay recently, and the seller was advertising them because you could make money from them by cutting them into small pieces! I e-mailed the seller, and he does seem to care about the historical significance of these items, but still, he is encouraging them to be cut up. If I could, I would purchase these items and make sure they are never cut up, but I just can't afford to, and they have sold anyway I am sure. He even mentioned that there were stencils on the original fabric, but that they could not be photographed for some reason. What a shame! stencils and such details are particularly important. Most aeroplanes had many stencils and company logos located in many different positions, and often these do not go back on in a restoration. The best restoration / conservation efforts I am aware of are the DH9 and Guynemer's SPAD VII in the Musee de l'Aire near Paris, the Knowlton Fokker D.VII and the AWM's SE5a. The DH9 and the SPAD VII have had their original fabric placed back on the airframe after restoration - PERFECT! The Fokker D.VII and the SE5a still have their original fabric (as far as I am aware), and should be kept that way. They both have probably retained their original fabric through good luck rather than good management, but many museums such as the AWM are aware of the importance of minimal intervention and conservation rather than restoration these days. I certainly wish that was the case in the 1960's.