HISTORY OF AVIATION AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION GUIDE

WHAT WERE the Wright biplane and the world's first jet aeroplane really like ? Only one photograph was taken during the first brief flight by Orville Wright in December 1903 ; there are no good, un-retouched photographs of the Heinkel He 178 jet-plane of August 1939.

WHAT WERE the Wright biplane and the world's first jet aeroplane really like ? Only one photograph was taken during the first brief flight by Orville Wright in December 1903 ; there are no good, un-retouched photographs of the Heinkel He 178 jet-plane of August 1939.
The best way of depicting the true shapes of such aircraft is, therefore, by means of three-view general arrangement drawings, or silhouettes of the kind used by the world's military services for accurate and quick identification of aircraft seen in combat.
This book contains 270 such drawings, mostly three-views, showing aircraft of particular interest and importance in the history of human flight. Each drawing is accompanied by a photograph of the aircraft, notes on its history and significance and concise specification data. Some of the photographs are published for the first time ; the information is as up-to-date and accurate as many years of careful research can make it.
How does one choose just 270 types of aircraft to illustrate such a story ? Clearly, as a start, they must include the famous trailblazers of which every-one has heard - the Vimy of Alcock and Brown. Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the Spitfire, the DC-3 airliner, its modern counterparts like the Tri-Star and Boeing 747 'Jumbo jet', the Concorde supersonic airliner, Russia's MiG fighters, America's Bell X-1 which was first to exceed the speed of sound, the Comet jet-liner, Igor Sikorsky's first successful helicopter….