Canvas Falcons: The Men and the Planes of WW1

A very accurate portrayal of the very first aerial combats in World War One and the pilots who fought and died in the air. The vehicles certainly differ over the years from WW-I through Iraq, but ground bound squadron life is amazingly the same. Between these covers, the reader can identify with the journeyman pursuit (fighter) pilot and the slackers who talk a good game but seemingly can't find an airworthy aircraft when te chips are down. Take a trip back in time when oil blew back in the pilot's face and he flew by the sound of the wind in his aircraft's brace wires.

I recently got around to pulling this one off of the shelf after having purchased a copy years ago. I have two regrets, one that I waited so long and second that this classic, well written history of the planes and aviators of the wood and canvas days is apparently no longer in print. If you are interested in this subject, you should spare no effort in finding a copy; this is one of the best. The author does a great job of bringing this exciting and tragic era back to life. The best section of the book is an excerpt from a privately printed memoir from an American flyer of the period. This is not a children's history; the author includes colorful details about the extracurricular exploits of the flyers while on leave. My edition was well illustrated with period photographs.

While there do appear to be a few technical inaccuracies with this book, I found it amazing in at least one respect: rather than the typical hero-worship associated with our view of world war one pilots, THE CANVAS FALCONS provides the best understanding of what their lives were like that I've ever read. Were they gallant? Yes. But it was eye opening to me to see that these men were also very scared, completely in touch with the fact that death was almost a certainty. This was brought home with information about things like men flying with the 'shakes' while losing faith in the war effort. Yes, they were gallant and some were gentlemen but, it turns out, some were also just self aggrandizing louts. So, technically perfect, no. A mind opening view of what was supposedly a glamorous service? Absolutely!

I'm not an aviation buff so I found no pain in (and can't verify) any technical errors this book might've had concerning the aircraft. I did however, enjoy the stories and goings-on of the various pilots and their air groups. The focus is mainly on the more famous (but some will definitely be lesser-known) English, German, and French fliers, but does stop to talk about American fliers, as well as pilots of other countries and lesser known areas of operation during WWI. Includes short histories and family upbringing on the pilots, their characters, their friends and fellow pilots, how they got into the then yet undeveloped air service, their trials and duels in the air (many times their deaths), and their activities on and off base, often interjected with their own quotes and sometimes excerpts of their own writing. Also includes stories of the more famous inventors working on the technological developments accompanying the planes and its armament at that time. Definitely interesting -- I felt a mix of awe, admiration and excitement for the fliers and innovators, was horrified by the gruesome realities in air combat, and sometimes laughed a bit at the funny and silly situations of that life and time. The people of the early 1900s: stupidly innocent, stubborn, brave, pioneering, and romantic...

I take some issue with the above review. This is not the book if you are looking for technical breakdowns of the various aircraft. However, if you want to try to catch an image of what life must have been like in the aerodromes, Longstreet does a good job of telling us about the aviators and their (often very short) lives.I failed to detect any animosity toward any individual flyer, including the famous Baron. Longstreet is open in his views about the foolishness of war but seems to respect the pilots. At least that was my take. He does point out that all of the claims for all of the aces are probably exaggerated.If you're looking for horsepower ratings of Hispano-Suisa or Le Rhone engines this is not your book. If you're looking for a human story about the first air-battles The Canvas Falcons is a good place to start.Besides "Canvas Falcons" sounds better than "Linen" or "Plywood" would. Doesn't it?