Infamous Aircraft: Dangerous Designs and Their Vices [Hardcover]

Robert Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2005

Many aircraft, some famous and some rare, gained a reputation for being difficult to fly and sometimes downright dangerous. This book looks at some of the worst culprits over a period spanning World War One to the age of supersonic flight. The following aircraft are included.BE.2 - The RFC went to war in it in 1914. The BE was easy to fly and very stable - but it was difficult to maneuver and very easy to shoot down. Tarrant Tabor - The Tabor was grotesque, a massive misfit of an experimental bomber that predictably came to grief on its first flight. Avro Manchester - The twin-engined Manchester would fly all the way to Berlin and back - only to burst into flames over its own base. Messerschmitt Me 210 - The Me 210 was developed as a successor to Goering's Destroyer, the Bf110. It was a disaster with a phenomenal accident rate. Martin B-26 Marauder - They called the B-26 the Widow-maker, fast and powerful, with some savage characteristics. Reichenberg IV - a manned version of the V-1 flying bomb, was a desperation weapon, its pilots intended to fly suicide missions against Allied shipping. Tu-144 - Rushed prematurely into its test program to beat the Anglo-French Concorde, the TU-144 was intended to be Russia's supersonic dream.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 170 pages
• Publisher: Pen & Sword Books (December 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844151727
• ISBN-13: 978-1844151721
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,397,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Infamous Aircraft, February 6, 2011

By 

D. Hough (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Infamous Aircraft: Dangerous Designs and Their Vices (Hardcover)

Useful as an introduction, but flawed by the choice of aircraft - a book with this title could easily have been double the thickness, but that's a matter for the author's personal choice. I would have liked to have seen the Bristol Brabazon, GeeBee racer and Barling Bomber included among others, but the aircraft which are included are given fairly good treatment though not always very detailed (but the R-101 chapter is outstanding).So, overall, good value but don't expect a definitive encyclopedia.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Infamous Aircaraft, October 4, 2010

By 

unixman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Infamous Aircraft: Dangerous Designs and Their Vices (Hardcover)

The book is misnamed. There were very little about "Dangerous designs and their vices" and I was disappointed with it. I found some sections interesting but becasue of the title I was expecting so much more. The section on early Russian jets was the part I enjoyed the most. Just wish the author had talked about the vices of those aricraft.