Product Description

Includes over 3000 entries detailing the design and development of every significant civil and military aircraft since 1903. Illustrated throughout with over 3500 color and black-and-white photographs, 3-view line drawings, and specially commissioned artwork. Full specifications are given for each aircraft, with all weights and measures in imperial and metric.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145225 in Books
• Published on: 2002
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1152 pages

Customer Reviews

THE single source aviation guide in one publication
This book is an excellent guide to nearly every aircraft ever producted. Essentially a table top encyclopedia of civilian and military aviation with a brief history and photos of most aircraft and includes some line art and specifications for more historically significant airframes. This is the type of book one would expect to find at a museum or a library and it is a top notch publication.

While being comprehensive in nature, it of course, is not exhaustive of every last single aircraft ever made- but it is one of the only books that I have come across that has a very large number of aircraft, an accurate description, specs and pictures. This is a MONSTER of a book and it includes aircraft from around the world. With this in mind, it cannot all non-production aircraft such as Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender is omited completely or thoroughly cover the Supermarine Spitfire and all its variants, it does include several one-of aircraft that are too numerous to list.

There are a few points that only plane nuts should know. Some aircraft are listed under different manufacturers such as the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon/Viper is listed under Lockheed Martin (current manufacturer vs. original producer) and the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is listed under the original manufacturer instead of the current one (Boeing). The book was published in 2002 so any changes after that point must be kept in mind such as Boeing's merger with McDonnel Douglas and recent models of certain aircraft, i.e. UH-1Y, AH-1Z, Mig 35. Also note that some aircraft are not cross references such as the T-2 Buckeye is listed under Rockwell and not North American and the OV-10 Bronco is listed under North American and not under Rockwell (or Boeing for that matter).

Great for the aviation buff who needs to spot check a couple of factoids on certain aircraft. Note: this book is out of print, very hard to find and published by Barnes & Noble in 2002 without any republications or updates. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.