RELEASE ON MARCH 24, 2022!
Editorial:
As I write these lines, the history of Europe has been taking an unimaginable turn over the past few months and this has once again made us aware of the fragility of our democracies and our freedoms. Throughout history, thousands of men and women have fought and made the supreme sacrifice with one goal: to defend these treasures, which are neither acquired nor due. These fighters today take on the face of Ukrainians, civilians or soldiers, and international volunteers. Make no mistake about it, they are also defending us.
These events also teach us how important history is and how it should not be manipulated. We have just moved into a new world and it was not the one we expected... Let's take the bet that the best will come out of it, which sometimes happens after the most brutal periods of crisis.
Our issue is precisely about freedom fighters. Those of 80 years ago, wearing the free French colors but whose ideal was the same. Beyond the fantastic work done by Bertrand Hugot for our file dedicated to the Alsace hunting group, two things struck me when it was set to music. The first is the youth of these first FAFL and their ideal pegged to the body. The second, which allows me to conclude this editorial with a little more lightness, is that I have often come to mind this unforgettable quote from René Goscinny: “All of Gaul is occupied by the Romans… Not all of it! A village populated by irreducible Gauls still and always resists the invader. A little humor, freedom and hope for hope.
Expertise and collection: Do you also have an aeronautical part, photos, documents, a collector's item or an insignia on which you would like to know more or that you simply wish to share with us? Do not hesitate to contact us, we will do our best to help you. If you would like us to help you with an identification, an expertise, please send us photos of a good definition with if possible the important details (marks, numbers, etc.).
For future articles and files, we are looking for paint samples in good condition from the period from 1935 to 1950 (contact us for details), if possible with a minimum size of 20x20mm.
Matthieu Comas / [email protected]
Summary of this n° 4:
- Direct line
- The Testot-Ferry tadpole
- The choice of editor
- Heritage: 1940, The treasures of the Évreux air base
- Portfolio: In the Album of Charles Trescases, 1939-1945
- File: GC 1 Alsace, September 1942, September 1943
- Alkan model 1935 collimators
- Air Force Marks and Paints Episode 4
We talk about it in the press and on the net:
- 4th issue which thus ends a year of publication of this new magazine which keeps its course well: the French Air Force and the 2nd World War. Unity of time and theme, let's hope it continues like this, it has been rather successful with its "counterpart" for the Army: GBM (from another publisher).
The concept of devoting a large file to a single theme in each issue is refreshing as well, compared to articles spread over many issues (and therefore often years) of other publications. Too bad that the article "camouflage" is precisely here the exception which confirms the rule and is governed by the spirit of "sausage".
The quality of the illustration, with the search for the unpublished and precise and detailed legends is also one of the strong points of Les Ailes.
Another interesting idea: a QR code link with a film on the Net
Let's continue to draw the parallel with GBM: far from focusing solely on operations, GBM has always given pride of place to industry and programs, even dealing with vehicles that have remained at the project stage. These are two avenues (industry and projects) that remain to be explored for the Wings, because we should not forget that for there to be knights of the sky, we first need design offices to design the materials and manufacturers to build them. Hopefully these avenues for improvement (and take-off) will be explored in future years.
Excellent as always! © Modelstories
