Customer Reviews

Shorts Aircraft Since 1900 (Putnam Aviation Series)

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This is one of a series of densely written product histories in the Putnam Aeronautical Books series. The type by type review covers not just technical specifications and history but also the more interesting ( at least to an engineer) story of why things were done the way they were. Of particular interest was the work done by Shorts on hull form with quite good results in seaworthiness and drag reduction and hull corrosion with somewhat mixed results. The Empire class flying boats were the pride of the British Empire in the late 30s just as the Pan Am Clippers were the pride of the United States. The great effort that led to the design and construction of these is well documented and the key people involved come alive through their trials and tribulations. Design and testing are given their due role on aircraft development and the major impact of early choices matching design requriements and configuration are made clear. The evolution of the Empire design into the Sunderland design is clearly described and the sucess of the latter is clearly tied back to the whole history of Shorts and flying boats. Altogher a good read for the aircraft enthusiast or the practicing engineer with an eye for history. Of course, who else would be interested is such a work anyway?