British Secret Projects: Jet Bombers Since 1949 by Tony Buttler.
Second Edition.
The recently published second edition of Tony
Buttler’s book is
even better than the now fifteen years old first edition. It is
considerably bigger (over 350 pages) with extensive newly researched
information and many new illustrations. There is much to interest the
Hawker enthusiast in this book which includes some fifty Kingston
projects. A strong point is that the book has mainly original general
arrangement drawings, photographs of company models and contemporary
photographs and ‘artists’ impressions. This high quality production is
published by Crecy (ISBN 978 19108091905) at £27.50, well worth it for
the amount of painstaking research that the author has carried out into
original sources.
The Aviation Historian
In Issue 23 I found the article on the
compressibility problems of Kelly Johnson’s Lockheed P-38 Lightning
particularly interesting as was the piece on the politics behind Fairey
Rotodyne project. The troubles of the unconventional SNCASO SO 8000
naval strike fighter also makes fascinating reading. A piece on the
Armstrong Siddeley Viper reveals how they are used as snow blowers by
the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority to clear railway tracks,
not unlike the truck-mounted Avon used to clear Dunsfold‘s runway. This
device, complete with its Trevor Jordan designed nozzle, can be seen at
the Brooklands Museum.
Issue 24 has a very informative article by Gp Capt
Tom Eeles on Brough’s Buccaneer covering design features, what it was
like to fly, and development and operational histories. The author flew
over 2,000 hours on both the RN and RAF versions. The tailplane and
wing blowing systems, needed for operations from the small Royal Navy
carriers, are covered in some detail.
Each beautifully produced issue runs to 130 pages
and always covers a wide variety of aeronautical subjects by expert
writers.