Book Review of
Duks
In Royal Serbian Air Force
Authors: Dragan Z. Saler & Aleksandar M. Ognjevic
Famous Aircraft Series No. 5013
Kagero Polish-English Publication
ISBN: 978-83-66673-11-3
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $22.95
ISBN: 978-83-66673-11-3
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $22.95
Dux (Russian: Завод «Дукс», Romanized: Zavod "Duks") was a bicycle/automobile/aircraft factory in Moscow, Russia before and during World War I.
The factory was founded in 1893. The name comes from the Latin word dux (leader). Y. A. Meller was owner of the factory which was primarily focused on the building of French aircraft designs.
A small Balkan Kingdom, Serbia faced with imminent war danger, decided to purchase Dux airplanes The purchase itself was followed by an affair concerning an inadequate , under-powered engine, which was delivered with the airplane.
This affected its use only temporarily, because it was determined that despite being less powerful than the ordered engine, the existing one satisfied the training needs
Despite not taking part in combat operations, during the Balkan Wars, Dux’s airplane was used for training and propaganda flights, which were met with great interests both by the Serbian command as well as the officers and local population.
Beside Serbian and Russian aviators, it was flown by some of the most famous names in French aviation of the time period, like Emile Vadrines, Louis Godelroy, Raoul de Reals and Emile Brodin which were in Serbia at the time at the invitation of the Royal Serbian Government.
THE BOOK:
Kagero Books is located in Lublin, Poland
This book is multilingual in both Polish and English.
It comes shrink-wrapped in a clear re-sealable cello envelope.
This book is soft-cover of 74 pages in 8” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color illustration of the Dux aircraft flying over an airfield lined with 5 tents and with 2 aircraft parked on it.
Up front, I want to say that Kagero has the name of the book and the aircraft company WRONG. It is Dux and not Duks. Kagero insists throughout with the wrong name. A look at Wikipedia does not find Duks, only Dux and the company logo shown in the book clearly shows Dux.
The factory was founded in 1893. The name comes from the Latin word dux (leader). Y. A. Meller was owner of the factory which was primarily focused on the building of French aircraft designs.
A small Balkan Kingdom, Serbia faced with imminent war danger, decided to purchase Dux airplanes The purchase itself was followed by an affair concerning an inadequate , under-powered engine, which was delivered with the airplane.
This affected its use only temporarily, because it was determined that despite being less powerful than the ordered engine, the existing one satisfied the training needs
Despite not taking part in combat operations, during the Balkan Wars, Dux’s airplane was used for training and propaganda flights, which were met with great interests both by the Serbian command as well as the officers and local population.
Beside Serbian and Russian aviators, it was flown by some of the most famous names in French aviation of the time period, like Emile Vadrines, Louis Godelroy, Raoul de Reals and Emile Brodin which were in Serbia at the time at the invitation of the Royal Serbian Government.
THE BOOK:
Kagero Books is located in Lublin, Poland
This book is multilingual in both Polish and English.
It comes shrink-wrapped in a clear re-sealable cello envelope.
This book is soft-cover of 74 pages in 8” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color illustration of the Dux aircraft flying over an airfield lined with 5 tents and with 2 aircraft parked on it.
Up front, I want to say that Kagero has the name of the book and the aircraft company WRONG. It is Dux and not Duks. Kagero insists throughout with the wrong name. A look at Wikipedia does not find Duks, only Dux and the company logo shown in the book clearly shows Dux.
Inside the book is 25 black and white photos.
These show:
Two photos of workers in the Dux factory between the 19th and 20th centuries, a photo of one of the company’s motorcycles, manufactured at the beginning of the 20th century and bought by the Russian Army, a 2-seat car with steam engine, manufactured by Dux in 1901, a photo of a propeller-driven snow mobile built by Dux, a mini-bus built by them in 1902, a luxury draisine built by them, and a car with a 7 hp. engine they built, the airship “Hawk” (a zeppelin) that they built and 13 photos of their biplane.
There is a bibliography and a specification listing about the aircraft.
Line drawings include:
Two 3-views of the biplane in 1/72nd scale, a 2-view and a 4-view of it in 1/48th scale.
There are 49 color illustrations of every inch of the biplane’s anatomy and its engine.
Two color 3-views of it. Another 10-views of it in 1/48th scale. 12 views of it with the fabric on and off it and 3 more 2-views in 1/72nd scale.
The last page of the book shows color illustrations of a share of stock in the company and 3 illustrations of advertisements of Dux’s products.
Inserted into the book is a single-sheet of line-drawings. It is printed on both sides in 15” x 23” format.
The face side shows a 3-view of the top, side and rear view of the biplane in 1/32nd scale.
The reverse side shows another 3-view of the top, side and front view of the biplane, also in 1/32nd scale.
This is a neat book about this aircraft. To me, it looks exactly like the Wright Brothers’ first aircraft.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Dragan Z. Saler is an aerospace engineer. He has researched the history of early aviation structures for over twenty years.
He is an author of several books in the field of mechanical engineering , computer science and aviation history, as well as dozens of studies , electronic publications and virtual exhibitions. He lives and works in Pozarevac.
Aleksandar M. Ognjavic is a graduate economist. He has researched the aviation history of the Kingdom of Serbia and Yugoslavia for more than twenty-five years.
He is an author of several books, numerous articles and TV shows in the field of aviation history. He is also a member of the prestigious British Association – The Blenheim Society. He lives and works in Belgrade.
This book will be of interest to modelers and aviation historians alike. Although there is no model kit of this Dux biplane. There is one by Monogram of the Right Brother’s aircraft though.
I wish to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. They are the North American distributor of Kagero Books and all Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-site at:
These show:
Two photos of workers in the Dux factory between the 19th and 20th centuries, a photo of one of the company’s motorcycles, manufactured at the beginning of the 20th century and bought by the Russian Army, a 2-seat car with steam engine, manufactured by Dux in 1901, a photo of a propeller-driven snow mobile built by Dux, a mini-bus built by them in 1902, a luxury draisine built by them, and a car with a 7 hp. engine they built, the airship “Hawk” (a zeppelin) that they built and 13 photos of their biplane.
There is a bibliography and a specification listing about the aircraft.
Line drawings include:
Two 3-views of the biplane in 1/72nd scale, a 2-view and a 4-view of it in 1/48th scale.
There are 49 color illustrations of every inch of the biplane’s anatomy and its engine.
Two color 3-views of it. Another 10-views of it in 1/48th scale. 12 views of it with the fabric on and off it and 3 more 2-views in 1/72nd scale.
The last page of the book shows color illustrations of a share of stock in the company and 3 illustrations of advertisements of Dux’s products.
Inserted into the book is a single-sheet of line-drawings. It is printed on both sides in 15” x 23” format.
The face side shows a 3-view of the top, side and rear view of the biplane in 1/32nd scale.
The reverse side shows another 3-view of the top, side and front view of the biplane, also in 1/32nd scale.
This is a neat book about this aircraft. To me, it looks exactly like the Wright Brothers’ first aircraft.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Dragan Z. Saler is an aerospace engineer. He has researched the history of early aviation structures for over twenty years.
He is an author of several books in the field of mechanical engineering , computer science and aviation history, as well as dozens of studies , electronic publications and virtual exhibitions. He lives and works in Pozarevac.
Aleksandar M. Ognjavic is a graduate economist. He has researched the aviation history of the Kingdom of Serbia and Yugoslavia for more than twenty-five years.
He is an author of several books, numerous articles and TV shows in the field of aviation history. He is also a member of the prestigious British Association – The Blenheim Society. He lives and works in Belgrade.
This book will be of interest to modelers and aviation historians alike. Although there is no model kit of this Dux biplane. There is one by Monogram of the Right Brother’s aircraft though.
I wish to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. They are the North American distributor of Kagero Books and all Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-site at:
Highly recommended.