Comments: Hardcover, 280 pages, 226 black-and-white and 25 color photos, 183 black-and-white drawings
ISBN: 978-1-906537-48-7
Price: $44.95
Publisher: Crecy Publishing
From the publisher: The latest title in Crécy’s Secret Projects series covers concepts developed by the U.S. aircraft industry in the years immediately before and during World War II. Covering fighter and bomber proposals from the American aircraft industry, this new volume includes medium, heavy, and intercontinental bombers, attack, and anti-submarine aircraft for the U.S. Army Air Forces and U.S. Navy. Special attention is given to “circular proposals,” a system of submitting designs against requirements circulated around the industry in the 1930s and early 1940s. Drawings and photographs catalog the development of well-known aircraft as well as prototypes and unbuilt designs.
FSM says: “What if” modelers will be given pause by this comprehensive description of aircraft development, including the early stages of legendary aircraft such as the B-17 and P-47 as well as follow-on designs spawned by successful aircraft such as the B-24 and B-29 — some of which proved to be, in retrospect, one step too far. An appendix summarizes aircraft development chronologically, listed alphabetically by company name from Beech to Vultee. A second appendix lists the aircraft by specification according to the armed forces’ “circular proposals.” The numerous three-way line drawings may goad scratchbuilders to ambitious projects.