AVIONS N°258

Editorial & Summary of Avions 287:

From Kasserine to La Ferté-Alais
A little over eighty years ago, the Battle of Kasserine was the last gasp of the Axis forces in Africa. A few months later, they were driven from the continent and the reconquest of Western Europe began. In this issue, Andrew Arty takes stock of these fierce battles which ignited the Tunisian skies and eastern Algeria in February 1943. Small cause, big effects: Guy Julien explains, with supporting testimonies, how General de Gaulle is used as the "Pierrelatte incident", in 1965 [1], to force France out of NATO the following year... Marc Chassard gives us the benefit of extremely rare color views of Nieuport fighters in 1916, which allow us to better understand the French camouflages of the time. Stéphane Nicolaou describes the “navy” career of the first American jet fighter: the P-80 Shooting Star, aka TO-1 in the US Navy. Claude Archambault draws up an original portrait of the two largest French aerial events, Le Temps des Hélices at La Ferté-Alais and Air Legend at Melun-Villaroche.

[1] Spying by an American plane on a French nuclear installation.

Finally, some news from our publications: the books “French military aeronautics 1919-1934”, “Aerospatiale Gazelle”, “From Siebel to Martinet” and “Fighting squadron 3/3 Ardennes 1943-2023” are now available all available, as are the reissues “Le Loire 130” and “Transmissions 1900-1940 (volume 1)”. The first volume of the book on Bloch aircraft should be released in May, as will the reissue of the one on the Latécoère 298, the profiles of which have been completely revised. These works will be followed before the end of the first semester by the publication of the book on French 2nd class submarines, then in July by the highly anticipated reissue of the book on the SO.4050 Vautour. Lots of hours of reading ahead!

Christophe Cony



Summary :
- Readers' letters
- The aerial battle of Kasserine. Full story, by Andrew Arty with the participation of Christophe Cony.
- 1965: trouble in Pierrelatte. Complete story, by Guy Julien.
- Colorful Nieuports! Complete story, by Marc Chassard.
- From Lockheed P-80A to TO-1: the US Navy Shooting Stars. Complete story, by Stéphane Nicolaou with the participation of Christophe Cony.
- Ferté – Melun: “What’s new Pussycat? » Complete story, by Claude Archambault.