British Airliner Prototypes since 1945
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Author: Stephen Skinner
Publisher: Midland Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-85780-299-3
Binding: Hardbound
Pages: 224
The great expansion of air travel following the Second World War led to quite a few manufacturers developing new passenger aircraft. With advances in jet and turboprop engines, new passenger aircraft utilized a wide range of powerplants, in addition to a wide range in capacity. While airliners were produced around the world, British designs often led the way, with such notable firsts as the BAC Concorde and de Havilland Comet. This newest book from Midland examines the prototypes of a long list of British airliners, from the Avro Tudor to the BAe 146.
Each aircraft has its own chapter, which describes its development and the individual prototype histories. These are punctuated with plenty of photos showing the aircraft to great affect. Also included are many of the period advertisements, and quite a few of these are colorful reminders of a different era of air travel. Some aircraft have general arrangement drawings, while others have color profile illustrations.
The aircraft covered include the Avro Tudor, Vickers Viking, de Havilland Dove & Heron, Bristol Freighter & Superfreighter, Handley Page Hermes, Miles/Handley Page Marathon, Short Solent, Percival Merganser & Prince, Cunliff-Owen Concordia, Airspeed Ambassador, Vickers Viscount, Armstrong Whitworth Apollo, de Havilland Comet, Bristol Brabazon, Bristol Britannia, Saunders-Roe Princess, Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer, Handley Page Herald, Aviation Traders Accountant, Fairey Rotodyne, Vickers Vanguard, Hawker Siddeley 748 & BAe ATP, Hawker Siddeley Trident, Vickers VC-10 & Super VC-10, Hawker Siddeley/BAe 125, Shorts Skyvan, SD-330 & SD-360, BAC One-Eleven, Britten-Norman Islander & Trislander, Handley Page/BAe Jetstream, BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde, and BAe 146/Avro RJ.
This is a great book for those interested in airliner development, as it follows a nation's aviation industry over a fifty year time frame. The well written text is complemented by the quality photos and illustrations, making this a nice addition to any civil aviation library. My thanks to Specialty Press for the review copy.