The Big Book of X-Bombers & X-Fighters: USAF Jet-Powered Experimental Aircraft and Their Propulsive Systems Hardcover – Illustrated, 26 May 2016

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A beautifull book on the history of the USAF.Great pictures ,nice profiles and a easy text to read.,lots of information.Nice to have in my collection.Well Worth the price..Gary

I will admit that on initial flick thorough of this book after I excitedly opened the parcel in my office I was a little disappointed. I had been waiting for this book ever since I first heard of its release on the Secret Projects Forum and despite my excitement I was a little worried by it all encompassing, please everyone title. On that initial scan it appeared my worst fears were confirmed since its layout was reminiscent of those bargain basement books that are compiled from old reference material by non specialist authors. However the content soon changed my opinion, once I saw past the layout I came to realise that the artwork was wonderful, the breadth of the topics covered was wide and the specialist knowledge of the Author was evident in every section. This book is a valuable reference guide for anyone with an interest in this area.

We aviation fans (anoraks) are terribly generous in our reviews. There are lots of things wrong and/or irritating about this book but, in the end, it is a great book with brilliant illustrations.The title "The Big Book of..." suggests this book is headed straight for the bargain shelves of the giant cafes-with-some-books which used to be called bookstores.So the book is not even aimed at the man who knows his aircraft inside and out.Then the title clearly says X Bombers and X Fighters..so the big book shop customer may be misled into thinking that this may include America's wonderful series of X planes, well covered by Miller but totally absent here...Yet they can be important here; the author gives us the gem that Lockheed were in charge of much of the flying of the feeble Douglas X3 which helped lead onto the F104 which assorted European governments were bribed to buy as their main all weather fighter..Then there are the fighters pretty well ordered of the design board so very underrepresented here - so not much on the Sabre or Phantom 2 - two planes totally dominant in their eras. Those never ordered also pose a difficult problem.The F108 was never built but , in design, it took at least 5 major shapes!. One would like all the century series fighters all together but they do not quite fit the time line and pop up all over the place.The engines, or often lack of them, are put into a section of their own quite out of any time line.The contribution of early British jets, flown with their designer Whittle to the US is graciously acknowledged. And the later gift of the same engines by the British Labour Government (probably through corruption and/or blackmail - there's nothing new in the world) is equally graciously passed over though many Americans died because Russian MiG 15s had a British designed engine.Many reviews question the production values of the book. Misprints, bits of history repeated or left out entirely, dreadful layout,oddly positioned sidebars, illustrations infuriatingly out of sync with the text, scandalously bad index. Aaaarrgh ! A rough attempt at a timeline has bombers, fighters and, er.., fighter bombers seemingly mixed up higgledy piggledy.So is this just a scissors and paste job for a mass market?So this a highly irritating book with a one star rating? No because it has many saving graces. OK, you can learn more from Lloyd S Jones' books on US fighters and bombers, but there are lots of gems here.Firstly the timeline, which later becomes a bit of a 'mare, is wonderful for those early years of Jets.The story of the Bell Airacobra is wonderfully told. Were you aware also that F105 first flew in 1955, the F101 in 1954, the fastest 'fighter' of all time the YF12 in 1962 ? So that very definitely explains why a whole lot of advanced fighters on the drawing board at that time were then cancelled !! A particular gem is that the successful licensed made Martin B57 was only asked to fly-off against the British Canberra version - and lost. And General Curtis LeMay allegedly saying of the North American 'WS-110A' supersonic bomber "This isn't an airplane, its a three ship formation!" Of course , the champion of the timeline is the B52 bomber of Doctor Strangelove fame. Director Stanley Kubrick, writer Terry Southern and stars Peter Sellers, George C.Scott, Sterling Haydn and 'pilot' Slim Pickens are all long dead, but what about the B52? Design approved in 1948, first flown in 1952, it is expected to serve until 2044; the longest serving warplane ever. Although it is pretty well matched by the Tupolev 95 'Bear' first flown in 1952 and which had its combat debut (!) in 2015 in Syria.The book is also well worth buying for its illustrations alone;sometimes with contemporary company illustrations or models, sometimes modern artist representations and often with outstanding photographs, often in earlyish colour when film had to be bought,paid for and developed! Particularly good on all those back-up early bombers (often by Convair or Martin) in case the Boeing did not work.So, be generous. Enjoy the good and do not let the bad ruin the book for you.