The Boy's Book of Jets

**Ralf Roggeveen** · June 6th, 2011, 06:38

Just got this at the Oxfam shop:

You can all have a go at these:

All quite easy....

Until you get to #9! (Lefty?)

The silhouettes are even easier:

Please post your answers, gentlemen.

This was a rather nice civil version of the Victor (HP-80) which never got much beyond the Boy's Book:

Sorry it's too wide for my little scanner, but you get the idea.

I am used to airliners of the time having a Ladies' powder Room and a Gentlemen's Dressing Room (a sort of unisex cupboard called Lavatory on a modern tube), but the HP-97 has Lower Deck Smoke Lounge at F and Library Lounge at G above. That's my sort of an aeroplane!

If anybody would also like to have a shot at the date of the book, all suggestions will be considered...

***aeronca1*** · June 6th, 2011, 07:01

Lemme see, 1 is a Vulcan, 3 is a Canberra, 4 is a Canuck, 7 is a Comet.

**AndyG43** · June 6th, 2011, 07:22

Ye gods, that is a dodgy drawing of the Javelins, they don't even look the same let alone like a Javelin.

Number 9 is actually quite easy, it is the Avro Atlantic, a proposed airliner version of the Vulcan. It's number 2 that is giving me pause for thought (again, mainly due to the '50s illustrations) not sure if it is a Wyvern or something from Blackburn.

**johnr** · June 6th, 2011, 07:25

ok of the half-tones I'd say..

1. Prototype Avro Vulcan
2. Westland Wyvern
3. English Electric Canberra
4. Avro-Canada CF100
5. hawker Hunter
6. Bristol Britannia
7. Comet 1
8. Vickers Viscount
9. Avro Atlantic

How'd I do?

Kind regards

JR

**Okami** · June 6th, 2011, 07:25

Here's my attempt:

Full aircraft drawings:

1) Avro Vulcan
2) Westland Wyvern
3) English Electric Canberra
4) Avro Canada CF-100
5) Hawker Hunter
6) Bristol Britannia
7) De Havilland Comet 1
8) Vickers Viscount 700
9) Avro Atlantic

Silhouettes:

1) Supermarine Swift
2) Hawker Hunter
3) Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.11
4) De Havilland DH.110
5) English Electric Canberra
6) Handley Page Victor
7) Bristol Britannia
8) Avro 707
9) Vickers Valiant
10) Avro Vulcan
11) De Havilland Comet 1

Took me a while to recognise silhouette 2...

**Ralf Roggeveen** · June 6th, 2011, 22:42

To put you out of your misery:

So everybody was right, though I agree that the pictures are poor!

What is extremely interesting in the answers is that they specify 'Comet 2' which means that we can date the book pretty accurately to shortly after the Comet 1 groundings in April 1954. They have shown it vaguely in BOAC Speedbird livery, though BOAC never actually took delivery of any 2s (RAF had a few with Avon engines). The whole book is remarkably silent about Comets with quite a good article on Britain's Flying Britannia (1952 turboprop). There is absolutely no mention of any non-British aircraft! It also contains a good deal of Sci-Fi, including a useful chart showing how many light years away various planets are... So you can grow up and be a spaceman of course.

That Avro Atlantic would be fun in fs9...