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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0277.PDF
29 January 1954 133 THE AERONAUTICAL BOOKSHELF "Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1953-54." Compiled and edited by Leonard Bridgman. Sampson Low, Marston and Co. Ltd., 25 Gilbert Street, London, W.l. Illustrated. Price £4 4s. TCEW books reflect the temper of international relations better A than Jane's. This year, for example, the conditions of "luke warm war" account for the fact that of 113 powered aircraft illus trated in the British section all but 29 carry military markings. Similarly, out of 172 photographs of U.S. types, only 45 show civil aircraft. And, most significant and disappointing of all, the iron curtain has again kept the Russian section diin in bodi bulk and fact; although at least one Russian type—the large Mil helicopter photographed at the last Soviet Aviation Day display (see Flight, September 4th, 1953)—is omitted for no apparent reason. Another sign of the times is the reapp:arance of Japan as an aircraft-manufacturing country. This year three light aeroplanes are illustrated in the Japanese section, with (for those with longer memories) disquieting hints of bigger and more lethal things to come. With its traditional disdain for rumoured or insignificant air craft, Jane's again overlooks a number of "one-off" and "home made" types such as the Finnish PIK-11 light plane, and the Italian Manzolini and U.S. Schmidt helicopters. But there are dozens of photographs of odier little-known aircraft from countries like Chile, the Philippines, Poland and Turkey; so this is small criticism of an old and trusted friend. Those who revel in detail will be interested in references to the new Continental-powered version of the Avions Fairey Junior and the Volkswagen-engined Nipper; unmentionable new marks of Canberra and Meteor; and a remark that small rocket-propelled target-defence intercepters are being supplied in some numbers to the Russian Air Force. "Boldness Be My Friend," by Richard Pape. Elek Books, Ltd., 14 Great James Street, London, W.C.I. Illustrated. Price 16s. THIS book has all the necessary ingredients of a present-day best-seller—courage, the excitement of a real-life man-hunt and touches of sadistic cruelty and crudeness. Richard Pape was navigator of an R.A.F. Stirling shot down after a successful raid on Goering's house, which was used as operational H.Q. for Berlin's air defences. Although wounded, he set out with die bomber's flight engineer to try to reach freedom. Almost at once there occurs an incident which sets the tone for the rest of the story. Instead of seeking the help of an elderly, somewhat witch-like Dutchwoman, they attack her violently and men steal all the food in her larder. Eventually dicy fall in witfi members of the Dutch Resistance, who arrange for them to be picked up by a British submarine at Leyden. But thick fog inter feres witii the rescue plan and, before a second attempt can be made, Pape and his colleague are captured by die Gestapo, to- getiier with several of the kindly, incredibly brave Dutch men and women, all of whom are subsequendy tortured and executed. Pape himself survives the attentions of die Gestapo, and the story goes on to describe his experiences in various prison camps, two unsuccessful escapes and his final repatriation as a rather phoney "incurable." As with previous escape books, readers can not fail to be impressed by the ingenuity of British P.O.Ws, both in making their prison life more bearable and in escaping. Most will be left wondering whether Pape might not have reached home earlier if, during his attempted escapes, he had used less violence in his encounters with civilians in their own homes. "Plastics Progress 1953—Papers and Discussions at the British Plastics Convention," edited by Phillip Morgan, M.A. Published for "British Plastics" by Iliffe and Sons, Ltd., Dorset House, Stam ford Street, London, S.E.I. Illustrated. Price 50s. THE papers and discussions reproduced in full in the 440 5|in x 9in pages of mis book constitute a work of reference of the greatest value not only to members of the plastics industry itself but also to others who make use of the materials m their own industries or who wish to learn how plastics can be best employed for specific purposes. - . . . , Several of the sections are of direct interest to the aircraft indus try. There is, for example, the paper on Plastics Containing As bestos as a Reinforcing Filler, by the R.A.E. team (Bishop, Gordon and McMullen) which has been working on the moulding of large components utilizing Durestos. Another study in the same held is Bancroft's (F. G. Miles Plastics Division) paper on the use of asbestos-reinforced materials, in which practical methods of vacuum and pressure moulding of aircraft components are re viewed in considerable detail. Glass-remforced material^e <lis- cussed by Hulbert (of Scott, Bader and Co., Ltd., and formerly of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd.); the chemistry of low-pressure laminating resins is the subject of a paper by Yarsley and Good- child; and Cole contributes a paper on the surface chemistry in volved in the adhesion of glass and plastics. Altogether, 22 papers are presented, together with verbatim re ports of the discussions which followed die lectures given in each of the eight sessions of the 1953 Convention. Numerous half-tone and line illustrations amplify the text; and a minor, but praise worthy feature is the inclusion of a portrait and brief biography of each contributor. "Ultra High Frequency Propagation," by Henry R. Reed, Ph.D., and Carl M. Russell, M.S. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York; Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 37, Essex Street, London, W.C.2. Illustrated. British price, 76s. V\^E do not recall ever having seen any single work which ap- " ' proached this volume in its coverage of what is still a rather specialized and little-understood field. The authors, and their assistants in preparing the book—W. M. Browne and J. W. Plummer, M.S.—are all attached to the U.S. Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland, much of the work of which is well known to our readers. The N.A.T.C. has long carried out intensive U.H.F. research and this book brings all that can be published between two covers. The static and dynamic per formance of all practicable systems are discussed and the effect is shown of variation in related components. A wide range of possible applications is also considered. "Oil." Cassell and Co., Ltd., 37/38 St. Andrews Hill, London, E.C.4. Illustrated. Price 8s 6d. THIRST of a series on "British Industries," this book sets out to * explain, in non-technical language, die growdi and develop ment of the oil industry and the methods by which oil is searched for, brought to the surface and refined. Kellies, Christmas-trees, whip-stocks, cat-crackers—these and other curious terms in the oil men's jargon cease to mystify, and some excellent annotated drawings serve to amplify the explana tions. Big half-tone illustrations, too, emphasize the grim beauty of some of the world's largest oil installations. Shell co-operated in producing the book, but it is in no sense a publicity brochure. "Feathered Wings—a study of the Flight of Birds," by Anthony Jack. Methuen and Co., Ltd., 36 Essex Street, London, W.C.2. Illustrated. Price 15s. 'THE author of this work says by way of introduction that in *- preparing it he divided previous books on the subject into two lots—those written before the Wright brothers flew, and diose produced since. The early works, he observes, were written "by men wholly seized of the passion of flight; diere is an enthusiasm, a madness, a brotherhood about some of them that belongs to air men and not to ornithologists." The best of the later books were "thoughtful, staid works of science in which I have found most of what I believe to be the correct explanations of bird flight." From such sources, and from his own knowledge as an enthu siastic observer since boyhood, Mr. Jack has distilled a most read able essence which strikes a nice balance between the entertain ingly popular and the coldly scientific. "I tiiink" (he says) "I should never have sorted the grain from the chaff if I had not myself been a pilot and had some grounding in the science of flight." To all who are interested in the subject of bird flight we com mend this painstaking effort; and so absorbing is it that many of those not previously interested may well become so after reading it—and after studying the admirable illustrations. "Aeromodeller Annual 1953," compiled by D. J. Laidlaw- Dickson and C. S. Rushbrooke, F.S.M.A.E. Illustrated. Price 10s. The Model Aeronautical Press, Ltd., 38 Clarendon Road, Watford, Herts. THE outstanding impression on looking through the latest edi tion of this practical annual is that within the past few years aeromodelling has graduated from the status of a hobby to that of a science: die number of design-charts, aerodynamic calculations, engine performance curves and electrical circuits (these last for radio models) is almost intimidating. Nevertheless, die scope of the book is so wide that there is also plenty for the less advanced enthusiast—for instance, seven pages, with dimensioned drawings, on how to make what is known as a "chuck glider" or, in other words, one thrown from the hand, paper-dart fashion. And, talking of darts, delta and swept-wing models are very much to the fore in this edition; there are even instructions for building flying saucers. Many of the constructional articles deal with original designs from abroad, and the tabulated results of the year's flying contests, in particular, show what a truly inter national outlook aeromodellists have achieved.
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