Miles M.52: Britain's Top Secret Supersonic Research Aircraft by Tony Buttler

Hi All.

Firstly, thank you for the very nice comments Skyblazer. We authors still need the occasional big boost like that!

At Paul's request, I thought you might like to know the background details to the M.52 book. A couple of years ago two Miles archivists (one of them the son-in-law of George Miles) asked me if I would like to put together the fullest possible account using all of the known original documents that still survive. Crecy were keen to do it, in part because this year sees the 70th anniversary of the cancellation. The result is about 70,000 words and the contents list is as follows:

Chapter One Origins
Chapter Two Research and Development
Chapter Three Designing the M.52
Chapter Four Development Trials
Chapter Five Aircraft and Engine
Chapter Six Cancellation and Controversy
Chapter Seven Vickers and the Supersonic Models
Chapter Eight American Involvement - Co-operation or Conspiracy?
Chapter Nine The M.52 Legacy

The text includes a full review of the Gillette Falcon flight trials and (using the RAE Report) the Vickers model trials that followed the cancellation (in fact possibly the fullest ever). The reports of the Supersonic Committee were accessed along with the (rather sparse) Ministry documents still held in the National Archives at Kew. Some of these are quoted in depth and you may have read them before elsewhere, but they had to go in. There is a short review of the XS-1/X-1 (with a drawing of the original project) and also how some of the features of the M.52's design appeared later in other aircraft. There is quite a lot of technical stuff (in two Appendices in particular) for which I have had the support of a former Farnborough aerodynamicist to help explain things (including one or two excellent diagrams).

We have concentrated on presenting facts, but I have had to make assessments as to whether the M.52 would still have beaten the X-1 to supersonic speed had it not been cancelled, and whether the X-1 benefitted from any M.52 data. An eminent historian in the US has helped with that last point.

I checked through the first draft page design 3 weeks ago and I hope it will be going to print within the next few weeks. It should be available (I think) well before Telford in November.

Very best wishes, Tony.

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This title will be released on June 30, 2016.

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The publication date of June 30 is a bit early. It has not gone to print yet.

There was no twin-fin M.52. Any image on an old TV video can safely be ignored.

Very best wishes,
Tony.

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CJGibson said:

I find your lack of faith disturbing. Spyflights was turned around in two and a half weeks.

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PaulMM (Overscan) said:

The publication date of June 30 is a bit early. It has not gone to print yet.

There was no twin-fin M.52. Any image on an old TV video can safely be ignored.

Very best wishes,
Tony.

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