Interceptor Fighters: For the Royal Air Force 1935-45 by Michael J.F. Bowyer lands on the shelves of my shop.
Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens, 1984, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Jacket illustration: Cover photograph Epitomising the central theme of this book are a Griffon-engined Spitfire and a Merlin-engined Hurricane, both of todays Battle of Britain Flight and photographed by the author at Abingdon in September 1983. Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Graphs; Diagrams; Tables;
From the cover: In an incredible ten years, the Royal Air Force jumped from being equipped with biplane fighters essentially similar to those which patrolled the lines over the Western Front to aircraft like the Tempest, capable of near-transonic speeds, and the first generation of jets. This book examines the piston-engined interceptor fighters designed for the Royal Air Force between 1935 and 1945, including the unsuccessful alongside the successful, plus many novel designs which never actually saw the light of day.
Inevitably, the Hurricane and Spitfire, whose appearance hurried the nations pulse in those dark days of 1940, play a large part in this story, as does the competitive spirit between Super-marine, who persevered with ever more powerful versions of R. J. Mitchells immortal design, and Hawker, who continued under Sydney Camm to produce new and ever-better designs. Guns and engines are the predominant themes throughout this book, and what is particularly interesting is the swing from air-cooled engines to easily streamlined liquid-cooled types, with an eventual return to the former as operational requirements altered. In addition, there is the conflict between those officers who favoured multiple machine-gun armament and those who wanted the heavier punch provided by cannon.
Alongside the familiar names such as Spitfire, Hurricane, Tempest, Typhoon, Mustang, Whirlwind, Beaufighter and others are many little-known designs from a variety of manufacturers, several of which are illustrated for the first time by scale drawings. The book also contains numerous unpublished photographs and valuable appendices.
Very Good+ in Very Good+ Dust Wrapper.
Black boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 192 pages. Index. 9½” x 6¼”.
Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!
Fact or Fable Book Shop 