Aircraft Archive (Volume 2: Post-War Jets), 1988, 1988

Document Type: Publication (Historical Study).

Purpose: Informational.

Authority: Author Expertise.

Document Number: Volume II (dated 1988).

Scope: This book, subtitled "A Detailed Collection of Original Scale Aircraft Drawings", was published in 1988 by Argus Books for readers interested in aviation history, especially model builders. The following illustrators are credited for their scale drawings in this volume: M. A. Badrocke, B. Hygate, George Cox, Pat Lloyd, George Cull, C. J. Nichols, J. R. Enoch and John Silvester.

From the back cover: "Since the earliest days of aviation, the ever-changing shape of the aeroplane has held a special fascination. Over the years, this has led draughtsmen and designers to produce superb, detailed 3-view scale drawings, generally to 1/72 scale, of a whole variety of aircraft from the first biplanes to the modern jet fighter bombers.

The purpose of this AIRCRAFT ARCHIVE series is to bring together, in a thematic and organized manner, selections of some of the best of these designs, many of which are hailed as masterpieces of the draughtsman's art. Each book covers a number of aircraft of a particular period or type and, although the emphasis is firmly on the drawings and detailed aspects of these drawings, each aircraft section includes information on technical data and numerous black and white photographs."

From the Introduction: "In the first of these volumes we introduced the series of scale drawings with an explanation of their origins and importance as a permanent record of aircraft shapes, and credited the skills of the draughtsmen Involved. This second volume extends the range of types which have been taken from the files of "Aeromodeller" and "Scale Models", two of the monthly magazines published by the original Model Aeronautical Press, long since absorbed into Argus Specialist Publications.

Although some of the drawings cover the earliest versions of types which were to be developed through many detail changes during long and varied service life, they illustrate the aircraft in its purest form and, for that reason alone, it is important that they perpetuate the first concept.

The clean lines of the first F-86 Sabre or the adventurous Leduc 021 belong to an era that will never return - before aircraft engineering became an assembly of compromise and outlines took on the image of committee decisions. Equally, the experiment of the F7U Cutlass, which proceeded to US Navy squadron service, or the bold, belly-landing Baroudeur, which was overtaken by the pace of progress, are each here to be compared in similar scale as representative of the spirit of challenge which was so evident in the 1950s. Not that such a spirit is dead and gone, for the Sea Harrier, which established itself in the Falklands, and the EAP test aircraft, Itself a mix of components blended to prove potential for the future, are typical of the design innovation which aeronautical engineering generates.

In fact, out of the twenty-two aircraft types in this Post-War Jets volume, only one can be claimed to follow 'straight' convention, that being the jet variant of the Percival Provost trainer. It might be claimed that the diminutive Sparrowjet conversion from the Sparrowhawk racer was a similarly 'simple' modification: but for those who were fortunate enough to view its turbine installation and witness its flight, this admirable private venture is a more than justified inclusion among the unconventional. So here we have quite a mixture - from swing-wings and VTOL to flying wings, twin booms and deltas. For the modeler, the student of aircraft shapes and the collector, this archive of Post-War Jets is a tribute to the manufacturers, and to the draughtsmen who pieced together the accurate outlines. Each set of plans is a typical example of the skill and dedication applied by an amateur researcher over countless hours of translating measurements and interpreting photographs Into a scale drawing which, in fact, no manufacturer could ever provide!"

Contents: Includes articles about: - Chance Vought F7U-3 Cutlass - De Havilland DH110 - North American F-86 Sabre - Hawker Hunter F Mk 5 - De Havilland Sea Venom F (AW) Mks 20 and 21 - Dassault Mystere IVA, B and N - Miles M77 Sparrowjet - Leduc 021 - Hunting Percival Jet Provost T Mk 2 - Gloster Javelin F(AW) Mk 1 - Convair F-102A Delta Dagger - Grumman F9F-8 Cougar - Fairey FD2 - Sud-Est SE5003 Baroudeur - Chance Vought F8U-1 and -3 Crusader - Republic F-105B Thunderchief - Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S Mk 2 - Ling-Temco Vought A-ZE Corsair - McDonnell F4H-1, F-4K and F4M Phantom - General Dynamics F-111E - British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS Mk 1 - British Aerospace EAP