Stratus / MMP Books
Polish Wings 24:
Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-19P & PM/MiG-21F-13

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron

The first two Polish Wings books I was fortunate enough to read – no.16 on the Spitfire XVI and no.17 on the PZL.23 Karas – focused on aircraft used in the struggle against Nazi Germany.  By no.24 in the series, however, World War II is over, Poland is behind the Iron Curtain and its air force is operating Soviet jets – specifically, the MiG-19P and PM, and the MiG-21F-13. 

The issue of Soviet domination, and Polish subjugation, bring a different feel to this book than the earlier volumes.  Author Lechoslaw Musialkowski makes clear this was a time when the Polish Air Force used the equipment it was told to by Moscow – notwithstanding tensions between the two countries stemming from the 1956 ‘Polish October’ reforms.  Musialkowski seeds his text with low-key but caustic observations of air force life in the Soviet bloc, adding context to the technical and operational descriptions that are his main focus.  A good example is his summary of the mood when the MiG-19s were retired in 1974: “the end of service of the first supersonic fighters in Poland was received…without regret….One of the officers kissed the concrete of the airfield with relief”.

Like other books in the series, this one is broken into a series of photo essays that focus on each of the subject aircraft. Musialkowski’s text is the spine of each section, but it is beautifully complemented – even upstaged – by the accompanying illustrations.  Most of these are black and white period photos of MiG-19s and MiG-21s being flown and serviced by their crews (although there are three colour photos of one MiG-21F survivor).  The photos are generally of excellent quality, and will be of great use to modellers looking for airframe details or diorama ideas.

The photos are complemented by 16 full colour profile and two plan views by aviation artist Janusz Swiatlon.  Cold War Polish MiGs weren’t the most colourful of aircraft – all except one in this book were overall natural metal with red identification numbers and red-and-white national markings – but the austere finish definitely adds to their presence.  Each profile is presented alongside several photographs of the subject, which helps to highlight individual airframe features.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Thumbnail panels:

Production quality is excellent.  The layout is attractive, and selection and reproduction of photos mostly very good.  Musialkowski’s writing style is dense but interesting.  I didn’t notice any typographic errors while reading the book.

This volume is welcome addition to the Polish Wings series.  Musialkowski makes clear that – while the Poles weren’t overly thrilled with some aspects of the Russian-supplied MiGs – they nonetheless made an important contribution to Soviet air power calculations during the Cold War.  The photos and profiles give life to this story, while also providing plenty of modelling inspiration.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to MMP Books  for the sample.

All MMP Publications books are available direct from the publishers, who now accept credit cards (Visa, MC, Amex, Switch)  

North American distributors are MMD, Australian distributors are Platypus Publications. In Europe, the books are available from any good bookshop (via our UK distributors, Orca). Contact MMP direct in case of difficulties. 

Thanks to Roger at MMP Books  for the sample.

Review Copyright 2019 by Brad Fallen
This Page Created on 9 January, 2019
Last updated 9 January, 2019

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page