Boeing Aircraft Cutaways — The History of Boeing Aircraft Company — FOLD-OUT PAGES INCLUDED FOR MODELISM —
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Characteristics
| ISBN-13 |
9 781855 327856 |
| ISBN-10 | 1855327856 |
| Book cover finish(es) | Hardcover ( rounded spine binding ) |
| Special Features | Dust Jacket |
| Condition | Good |
| Author(s) | Mike Badrocke, Bill Gunston |
| Publisher | Osprey |
| Number of pages | 149 |
| Published date | September 25, 1998 |
| Language(s) | English |
| Size | 26.5 x 24 x 1.7 cm |
| Categorie(s) | • APPAREILS - CONSTRUCTEURS • AVIATION CIVILE • AVIATION MILITAIRE |
Description
In 1915, a short time after a ride in a Curtiss seaplane and some cursory aircraft design study, William E. "Bill" Boeing remarked to his friend Cdr George Westervelt, USN, "I think we could build a better one." Thus begins the history of one of the biggest companies in the world. By July 1916, the first efforts of Pacific Air Products Co. was in the air, the Bluebird. Following naval orders for Curtiss HS-2L flying boats built at Seattle, (still the home of the mighty Boeing) the Armistice naturally brought things to a temporary halt. Building speedboats and furniture kept the company alive until further military orders were forthcoming. Air mail routes and company acquisitions would lead eventually to the first all-metal stressed skin multi-engined transport with retractable landing gear, the Model 247. In 1934 the company laid itself on the line and invested everything in a four-engined bomber which a newsman christened the Flying Fortress.
From then on, Boeing has always been associated with the giants of the skies: the B-17, B-52 and the crucial 367-80, from which came all of the jetliners, 707 to 777. Acquisitions of rivals have continued to the present day, including North American Aviation in 1996, and in 1997 - the big one - something like $16 billion for McDonnell Douglas.
Anyone interested in the history of aircraft development cannot ignore the biggest of them all, Boeing; and in this volume the story is enhanced and clarified by the incomparable cutaway artwork of Mike Badrocke. His meticulous visualizations provide precise information, shown to best effect on gatefold pages, together with the close analysis of expert author Bill Gunston. Contemporary photographs have been collected from many sources. In Bill and Mike, the publishers of Boeing Aircraft Cutaways are proud to to have involved the best team possible, to tell the story of the Seattle giant.
Mike Badrocke has devoted his working life to the illustration of aerospace and other high-technology subjects, which has given him unique access to the design offices and manufacturing plants of aircraft companies throughout the world, including those in the former Soviet Union. His engineering apprenticeship with de Havilland Aircraft no doubt helped him to develop an ability to "see" beneath the surface of designs - sometimes, perhaps, to the consternation of the designers! His artwork has appeared for many years in the pages of technical journals and magazines, including Air International, Flight International and World Air Power.
Bill Gunston OBE should need no introduction to anyone interested in the history of aerospace. At the end of World War 2 he was a flying instructor in the RAF and as such flew a remarkable number of types, including several Axis aircraft. After many years as Technical Editor of the magazine Flight International, he became a full-time author. The breadth of his knowledge - and the number of articles and books he has produced since that decision to "go freelance" - is massive. To name but one, he is the author of let Bombers: from the Messerchmitt Me 262 to the Stealth B-2
(Osprey, 1993).