Aviation Books

[Moses03]

Added Picture History of Aviation on Long Island 1908-1938 by Dade and Strnad to the library. Found it for $7 at the local discount reseller. Filled with dozens of rare photos of American and foreign aircraft. (Savoia-Marchetti SM-55 docked in NY harbor for example). This one is right in my wheelhouse with my near obsessive interest in 1930's transports & airliners of late. Covers a lot of the comings and goings at Floyd Bennett Field.



Can't say too much else because there will be some mystery planes pulled from it down the road.

[lefty]

Gulp ! Just bid for a bound Aircraft Profiles 205-222 on the Bay, and it went for a mind-boggling £51 ($74), over three times what I thought it was worth.

Someone really wanted that book.............

[Moses03]

This arrived in the mail today; The Last Flight of Bomber 31. Can't wait to get started on it. Always been interested in the far corners of WWII and the Aleutians were about as far as you could go. Covers the long-range Ventura & Harpoon missions over Japan in some of the worst conditions possible in any theater.



A NOVA special on PBS first brought this story to my attention.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bomber/

[Ferry_vO]

Finally bought myself the 'Nachtjagd war diaries' volume 1&2 written by Theo Boiten, and published by Red Kite. Had to drive all the way to Schiphol and back, but I managed to get the last complete set available!

I could have ordered the books online and had them delivered to my house, the last time I did that the idiot that was supposed to do that dropped an expensive book in the hallway in the apartment building where I lived because I was't at home at the time. Fortunately it was still there when I came home late that night but if I get half the chance I rather drive the 120+ miles and pick them up myself!

Great books btw, very detailed information on the nightfighters' operations.

[hewman100]

For those of you who wondered why so many problems dogged Bomber Command and its equipment during WW2 I would thoroughly recommend 'The Relentless Offensive: War and Bomber Command' by Roy Irons.

This book details doctrine, research and armament development, and the foresight or lack thereof by individuals and various committees involved in making the Command a fighting force.

[Hurricane]

Picked up a couple of books at Waddington.

Rotorcraft of the Third Reich (not the mushroom one, the big thick one). Its one I've wanted for a while and it had about a third off. Haven't had time to read properly but looks excellent, as you'd expect it covers the main types in much more depth than the mushroom one (which is excellent as a quick reference) as well as covering a much wider range of types.

The other is the old Air Britain Hoverfly File. So far seems up to their usual standards which are pretty high.

Also got the new book from the author of Vulcan 607 but I'll post something about that if I ever get time to read it!

[Hurricane]

Picked up an interesting book today in a second hand bookshop (only cost £6.50 too)

Its called an introduction to Aeronautical Engineering- volume one: mechanics of flight.

The interesting thing is that its from 1936 (original edition was 32). Makes interesting reading how they explained things as opposed to modern textbooks. Obviously its largely similar, theres one or two things which are not technically correct like why the air accelerates over an aerofoil but on the whole its all very familiar right down to the diagrams. The confusing bit is numbers they use, I'm used to drawing in feet and inches and quoting knots and feet but have always converted to SI for calculating things, this is all in lb/ft3 etc.

[srgalahad]

I've just been working thru the list from Canav Books.
http://www.canavbooks.com/Booklist/
Mostly Larry Milberry stuff but there are a couple of others that I recommend - My Life in the North: Jack Lamb; Bush to Boardroom, Duncan McLaren - PWA

ALL of Don McVicar's books - From ferry command to making an airline, to racing Mossies postwar
http://www.donmcvicar.com/

and I've been looking for a set of three 'juvenile fiction' books from the 40's:The Steve Knight Flying Stories Series consisted of three volume series, set during World War II, and published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1941 and 1942. Author Ted Copp
They show on a couple of booksellers pages but then the page is dead or I've had no reply

[Moses03]

Rob, you would have been proud of me. I just missed on Putnam's Canadian Aircraft Since 1909 over on Ebay last week. Tough one to track down.

In the meantime I have been slowly filling out my Juptner collection. Picked up U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol 2 for cheap.



I like the later volumes better as the early ones tend to have a lot of Wacos and Travel Airs that all look the same.

[lefty]

Blast ! Filling out your Juptners, eh ? Another source of mysteries closed off for me.........

Anyone know anything about these books ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...:B:WNA:GB:1120

[Moses03]

Not familiar with that one. Looks interesting though.

[lefty]

Santa was good to me (after a few hints )

[Moses03]

Late present from Santa: Vultee Aircraft 1932-1947 by J. Thompson. (Same author of Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930-1945).

[PRB]

Ok, If it's about aircraft carriers, does it count as "aviation" history?

Just finished an outstanding book: Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal, by John B. Lundstrom. Anyone who has read history on WW-II in the Pacific knows the reputation this Admiral has received from history, and it isn't good. His most grievous sin being that he “abandoned” the Marines at Guadalcanal, three days after the invasion force landed. It's been clear from Lundstrom's other books that he thinks Fletcher has received an unfair “bad rap” from history, and in this book, written in 2006, he takes this on in great detail. An excellent book.

A good review here:
http://www.strategypage.com/bookreviews/308.asp

Attachment 258

[Moses03]

Ok, If it's about aircraft carriers, does it count as "aviation" history?

Heck yes!