28 June 2021
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Bill Rose reviews a book dedicated to the experimental aircraft dreamed up in Britain.
The subtitle of this book gives you the idea of what it’s all about – Flying Wings, Deltas and Tailless Designs. What is fascinating is how early in the history of flight these kind of designs were both on the drawing board and being tested in prototype form. The HP.75 Manx, built by de Havilland for example, is shown on the runway in 1942 yet the design looks far more modern. Most of planes detailed are post-WWII though.
It’s not just British projects, despite the title, because obviously the Germans were busy with new concepts in WWII and the victors then took those plans as spoils of war at the end. There are schematics aplenty, lots of impressive specification details, and a surprising number of actual photos of these planes. The paper is high quality matte, so the photos come out well, but there’s nothing in colour, so it’s an impressive, quite dense book, but not cheap.
- Fonthill Media
- ISBN 978-1-7815-5805-8
- 292 pages. Hardback. £35
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