JANE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF AVIATION

London: Bracken Books. Very Good/Very Good. 1989. Hard Cover. Lge 4to 1851703241 Very heavy book but no extra postage will be requested. Due to weight we cannot supply this book outside of United Kingdon. Dust jacket complete in a clear protective sleeve. Blue cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine. Bump to top of spine. 2000 Photographs, Colour & b/w. 948 pages plus index. Clean and tight. IVE VOLUMES IN ONE With more than 2,000 illustrations in black and white and full colour This definitive reference source brings together in one volume five encyclopedic guides to the history of aviation from the days of hot air balloons to today's supersonic transports. Both aviation professionals and enthusiasts will find Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation to be a fascinating chronicle of the tremendous advances in flight technology. Fred T. Jane felt compelled to include an apologetic footnote inside his first guide to the world's aircraft. He attributed the work's large number of unillustrated pages both to his inexperience at this type of information gathering, as well as to the general reluctance of industry professionals to provide him with it. But that was in 1909. By the advent of World War I, the quantity and quality of statistics contained in the annual editions of All the World's Aircraft had improved so greatly that the volume was deemed a security risk. The book, already completed and too costly to reprint, was sent back to the printer with Jane's instruction to obliterate entries relevant to the war effort with indelible black ink! When Jane died two years later, his successor promised to make the annual volumes a perpetual monument to his memory. Today the Jane's name signifies the best among aviation reference sources. It was at the suggestion of Michael J. H. Taylor, a member of the current editorial staff of All the World's Aircraft that an encyclopedic volume be compiled that would encompass the vast amount of material housed in the Jane's archives. When Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation appeared in five separate volumes it was hailed as the most comprehensive book of aviation history ever published. Here now in one complete volume is that authoritative text and a detailed supplement describing hundreds of aircraft that have made their mark in flight history since its original publication. From the first Wright Flyerto the latest Northrop B-2A stealth bomber Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation captures the romance, thrills, and science of flight. MICHAEL J. H. TAYLOR is Assistant Editor to Jane's All the World's Aircraft, and during his twenty years of aviation writing has published 97 books. With more than 5000 entries on all the world's aircraft, from the pioneers to the present day. .