Hawker Aircraft Since 1920 (Putnam Aeronautical Books) [Hardcover]

Francis K. Mason (Author)

Book Description

Series: Putnam Aeronautical Books | Publication Date: June 1991

Francis Mason. Naval Institute Press, 1991. This book, by one of the most distinguished writers on military aviation, was originally published in 1961 and updated in 1971. An outstanding work when first published, it is now of even greater value, the author having made a complete revision as well as expanding and updating the sections on the later aircraft such as the Hunter and Harrier, and adding new chapters on the Sea Harrier, the Harrier G.R.5, and the joint Anglo-American Harrier. These and other Hawker products are described in great detail and illustrated by photographs and drawings. Hard cover, 657 pages.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 657 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr; 3 Rev Sub edition (June 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557503516
• ISBN-13: 978-1557503510
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Another good book from Putnam, January 23, 2012

By 

Alberto Ramirez Castellanos (Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hawker Aircraft Since 1920 (Putnam Aeronautical Books) (Hardcover)

I usually enojoy Putnam reprints and this is the usual good stuff you expect from this publisher. It contains a good deal of history of the Hawker company since its origins as Sopwith.

3.0 out of 5 stars Something of a disappointment, September 3, 2006

By 

Alexander T. Gafford "alex" (Midland, Ga United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hawker Aircraft Since 1920 (Putnam Aeronautical Books) (Hardcover)

The Putnam Aeronautical Books series contains many volumes, of which I own several. This seems the least helpful of any. The other two titles in the "... Aircraft since 19XX " series that I own are on Shorts and Supermarine. The shortcomings of this voume on Hawker are as follows:
1. There is little understanding of who contributed what at Hawker other than Sidney Camm and some test pilots although clearly some very talented folks worked there. See for expample the book "Sidney Camm and the Hurricane" Airlife, 1991 which makes this abundently clear.
2. Unlike in the volume on Supermarine, there is little coverage on projects that were not built but showed where the thinking of the company was directed. The very short section at the rear with a tantalizing list and a few plans is no substitute for including this in the flow of the narrative.
3. No fault of the author, this book was published in 1961. The P1127 had just flown, so little or nothing of the Harrier and Hawk stories is told and some of the description of the Hunter work may well have been obscured by security concerns of the day.
4. The description of the aircraft is just that, descriptive, with no attempt to explain and contextualize the technology involved. The change from tube frame to stressed skin fusalage construction must have been significant to the entire Hawker organization, but it is just described. In fact, from the description of Typhoon development it is clear that Hawker had structural problems (in-flight failures) with their first monocoque but this is never dealt with as such.

All in all, this book is worth buying at discounted used prices, or in order to complete a collection but really does not help us understand what Hawker really contributed to 20th century aeronautical development.