British Secret Projects: Jet Fighters Since 1950 by Tony Buttler soon to be presented for sale on the impressive BookLovers of Bath web site!
Published: Hinckley: Midland Publishing, 2001, Hardback in dust wrapper.
2nd printing. [First Published: 2000] Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Colour Photographs; Black & White Drawings; Colour Drawings; Diagrams; Tables;
From the cover: A huge number of fighter projects have been drawn by the British aircraft manufacturing companies over the last 50 years, very many of them prior to the 1957 White Paper. With so few being turned into actual hardware, little has been published so far about these fascinating might-have-beens, one reason being that all military brochures remained classified once a competition winnner had been chosen.
The text of this book essentially describes development work undertaken since the end of the Second World War, but a line is drawn at around 1950 in order to exclude those first generation jets whose airframes incorporated primarily wartime technology, and about which much has been written already.
This work scores in that the author has researched extensively and makes use of previously unpublished primary source material, much of it only recently declassified. Particular emphasis is placed on the tender design competitions and the many diverse factors which influenced the decisions at the Air Ministry to reject many projects and yet allow others to be built and flown.
Some of the many aircraft types covered include the Hawker P. 1103 / P. 1116 / P. 1121 series, the extraordinary jet and rocket mixed power-plant interceptors from Saunders-Roe, the equally impressive Fairey Delta III (the latter shown in Keith Woodcocks cover painting) plus todays Hawk and Eurofighter.
The book includes appendices that list all the British fighter projects and specifications for this period. There is also an Index and a colour section that includes a number of specially commissioned renditions of might-have-been types in contemporary markings, plus 130 black/white photographs and 140 general arrangement 3-view drawings.
This book lifts the lid on a fascinating subject, the result is a unique insight into a secret world where the public had little idea of what was going on, while at the same time presenting a coherent picture of British fighter development and evolution.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper.
176 pages. Index. Bibliography. 11½” x 8¾”.
Of course, if you don’t like this one, may I entice you with something lovely from hither or maybe further, hand picked, books in my Transport Air catalogue?
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- british secret projects jet fighters since 1950 tony buttler midland publishing 1857800958
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