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hesham said:
hesham said:
although I am still amateur in aviation,but I am ready to write two books;

- French Civil Aircraft & Projects : 1910-1945
- French Military Aircraft & Projects : 1910-1945

I will change the two titles to be from 1919-1945.
I'll buy the two ;)
 
Deltafan said:
hesham said:
hesham said:
although I am still amateur in aviation,but I am ready to write two books;

- French Civil Aircraft & Projects : 1910-1945
- French Military Aircraft & Projects : 1910-1945

I will change the two titles to be from 1919-1945.


I'll buy the two ;)

Thanks.
 
My experiences with Jay Slater at Fonthill media cannot be described as fruitful.
 
Mine has been very satisfying, though ;D
 

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Next books
-Enemy at the Gates: Panic Fighters of the Second World War
-Fighters of the Dying Sun: The most Advanced Japanese Fighters of the Second World war
-The Ultimate Night Fighters of the Luftwaffe
 
Justo Miranda said:
Next books
-Enemy at the Gates: Panic Fighters of the Second World War
-Fighters of the Dying Sun: The most Advanced Japanese Fighters of the Second World war
-The Ultimate Night Fighters of the Luftwaffe
Muchas gracias, Justo!
 
Eagerly awaited !
Any publishing dates Justo?
 
Justo Miranda said:
Mine has been very satisfying, though ;D
Yes, the Pa.112 C1 of the polish pilots fighting in France (What if at the beginning of WW2 ?) is a good one ;D ;)

Justo Miranda said:
Next books
-Fighters of the Dying Sun: The most Advanced Japanese Fighters of the Second World war
Tempting.
 
Payen Fighters (first deltas)
Between 1932 and 1942, Nicolas Payen designed a series of wooden canard-delta airplanes with a radical tandem-wing configuration.
In 1933 he built the Pa 100 Flèche Volante with small wings called machutes and a 67 degree swept delta tailplane, to compete in the 3rd Coupe Deutsch. The machutes had mobile wingtips which acted as ailerons and electrically-operated metallic flaps. The landing gear consisted of one centreline main leg, retracting backwards, and two outrigger auxiliary wheels retracting into the tailplane.
The engine should have been one 180 hp Regnier R6, six-cylinder straight air-cooled, driving a fixed pitch wooden airscrew. But it was not possible to get one in time to participate in the competition and Payen had to adapt his project to the only engine available: one 380 hp Gnôme-Rhône 7Kd Titan Major seven-cylinder radial air-cooled, weighting 270 Kg, totally unsuited for a racing aircraft. It was necessary to install a fixed undercarriage in more advanced position, to compensate the extra weight, and a tail skid. The wingtips ailerons were also changed by others, safer and of conventional type.
The refurbished plane was named Pa 101 Avion-Flèche, had 4.26 m wingspan, 5.75 m length, 2.2 m height, 6.86 sq.m wing surface, 750 kg maximum weight and one estimated maximum speed of 400 kph. It flew for the first time on 17 April 1935, being damaged in an accident just eight days later.
The Pa 101 airframe served as the basis for a new racer project, called Pa 110 CD (Coupe Deutsch). Designed in 1935, it differed from the previous model by its conventional landing gear, retracting backwards into the fuselage sides. It was hoped that it might be able to fly at 490 kph powered by one 200-240 hp Hirth 508D, eight-cylinder inverted-Vee, air-cooled engine, but the project was cancelled due to lack of funding.
When the Spanish Civil War began, the Republican Government had great difficulties in acquiring combat airplanes abroad, due to the international blockade. In the summer of 1936 Nicolas Payen offered the Spanish communists to build the Pa 110 C.1, the military version of the racer, through the Luxembourgian banker Rosenthal.
The power system designed for the fighter was made up of two 220 hp Renault 6Q-01, six-cylinder straight air-cooled engines installed in tandem face-to-face. Both engines were connected to the contra-rotating propellers power shaft by means of a Cotal-Baudot gearbox that allowed to electrically disconnect any of the engines by means of a clutch.
It was going to have an armament of two 7.5 mm Darne machine guns installed under the machutes and one 20 mm H.S. 9 cannon, firing through the propellers hub, but the French Government had banned its export to Spain and had to be replaced by one 23 mm Danish Madsen cannon. The Pa 110 C.1 would have an estimated maximum speed of 460 kph, flying with one engine, and 550 kph with both engines. The estimated range was of 850 km.
The arrival of the Soviet fighters Polikarpov to Spain in October meant the cancellation of the project, which was redesigned as Pa 112 C.1 to adapt it
to the Chasseur Monoplace C.1 specification published by the Ministère de l'Air on 3 June 1937.
The Renault 6Q were replaced by two 200-205 hp Salmson 9ND nine-cylinder radial air-cooled (surplus) engines commonly used by the Bloch M.B.81 of the l’Armée de l’Air and by the Besson B. 411 of the l’Aéronavale. Proposed armament was either a 20 mm H.S. 9 or an Oerlikon FFS cannon and two 7.5 mm MAC 34 M39 belt-feed machine guns installed in the interior of the machutes, or two MAC 34A drum-feed installed under the machutes.
A mock-up using the airframe of the Pa 101 was built in 1938. After being examined by technicians of the l’Armée de l’Air, the project was rejected at the beginning of 1939, because of the great complexity of the power system. Payen offered to build the Pa 300 instead, a fighter capable to surpass the 520 kph of the Programme Technique A23 if they provided him with an H.S.12 Y-45 engine. But the military, who had done most of his career flying in biplanes, found the flèche aerodynamic solution to be too radical and preferred to build the Arsenal VG 33.
To fight these prejudices, Payen built the technological demonstrator Pa 22/2 Fléchair, which was captured by the Germans in 1940 while performing aerodynamic tests in the O.N.E.R.A. wind-tunnel of Chalais-Meudon. Under the new administration, the prototype was modified with the installation of a 180 hp Regnier R6B-01 engine and a new open cockpit with the windscreen of one Arsenal VG 33. It made his first flight on 18 October 1941 and was destroyed during an Allied bombing in April 1944.
 

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"Fighters of the Dying Sun"

CONTENTS

The Japanese Aggressor (January 28, 1932 to August 15, 1945)

Imperial Japanese Army Aircraft and Projects
Nakajima Ki.44 Shoki
Kawasaki Ki.45 Toryu
Mitsubishi Ki.46 Shin Shitei (Dinah)
Kawasaki Ki.60/Ki.61/Ki.100 Hien
Nakajima Ki.62, Ki.63, Ki.84, Ki.106, Ki.113, Ki.116 and Ki.117 Hayate
Kawasaki Ki.64 (Rob), Ki.78 (Ken-3) and Ki.88
The combat at high-altitude
High-altitude interceptors Nakajima Ki.87 and Tachikawa Ki.94
Manshu Ki.65 and Ki.98
Rikugun Kogiken Heavy Fighter
Nakajima Ki.201 Karyu



Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft and Projects
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
Mitsubishi J2M Raiden
Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden
The IJN “20-shi-Ko” specification
Mitsubishi J4M Senden
Kyushu J7W1 Shinden
Nakajima Kikka
Yokosuka R2Y2 Keiun
Mizuno Shinryu II
Kakukyoku Rammer
Kayaba Katsuodori

Rocket Fighters



Night Fighters
Nakajima J1N1 Gekko
Kawasaki Ki.45 Toryu
Mitsubishi Ki.46 Shin Shitei (Dinah)
Nakajima Ki.84 Hayate
Yokosuka D4Y Suisei
Nakajima C6N Saiun
Yokosuka Ginga, Kawanishi Kyokko, Nakajima Byakko and Kugisho Tenga
Aichi S1A Denko
Kawasaki Ki.102
Mitsubishi Ki.109
Mitsubishi A6M2, A6M3, A6M5 and A6M5-S Zero Sen
Mitsubishi J2M3 and J2M4 Raiden
Schräge Musik

Radar Warfare

Operation Downfall

Bibliography
 

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Justo Miranda said:
Next books
-The Ultimate Night Fighters of the Luftwaffe

Great subject!
Is publishing date september too, Justo?
Have you got contents?
 
The book is still in research stage... March 2020?
 

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Justo Miranda said:
Payen Fighters (first deltas)
Thanks Justo, in particular for the two drawings.

Justo Miranda said:
"Fighters of the Dying Sun"
CONTENTS
The Japanese Aggressor (January 28, 1932 to August 15, 1945)
Thanks too for these contents
 
My experiences with Jay Slater at Fonthill media cannot be described as fruitful.
I have to agree.
Since my book was published in 2012, and reprinted a few years ago, I have not received a single annual sales statement from Fonthill. This is a clear requirement of our contract that Fonthill blatantly ignore and neither the manager nor Jay chose to respond to e-mails on the subject.
If you are hoping to have a book published you are probably best advised to avoid Fonthill.
 
My experiences with Jay Slater at Fonthill media cannot be described as fruitful.
I have to agree.
Since my book was published in 2012, and reprinted a few years ago, I have not received a single annual sales statement from Fonthill. This is a clear requirement of our contract that Fonthill blatantly ignore and neither the manager nor Jay chose to respond to e-mails on the subject.
If you are hoping to have a book published you are probably best advised to avoid Fonthill.

May I suggest that you consider joining the Society of Authors? Among other things they will manage your royalty income for you and their legal eagles know the game well. https://www.societyofauthors.org/
 
A big problem I have is that everybody demands a bookful of stunning images and the text is there really just to back up the pretty pictures. The images do not even need to be particularly informative, for example hardly anybody includes accurate 3-views to a standard scale any more: they are too boring. But a poor image of some contemporary three-view by the designer's dog, wow now that is so saleable we have no room to tell you what the writing on it actually says.

There are huge numbers of wonderful images tucked away in old archives. But unless you happen to own the copyright (say, a lifelong collection of old photographs), bringing them out into the open costs an absolute fortune. And they all want payment up-front before you can get hold of a copy, while the publisher is uninterested until you have got them all written up. So you are expected to speculate a small fortune - say £5,000 for thirty or so images - with no guarantee of ever getting any of it back, and even if it is published you will be lucky to see a tenth (See also Schneideman's gripe, above).

So I am not sure to what extent Fonthill really want authors per se, like most publishers they probably want image libraries with an author on the side. For example my biography of pioneer aviator J.W. Dunne would benefit from a good selection of the archive's photographs and documents - most never yet published. But I cannot afford the investment.
 
Something is far better than nothing. I have thought of writing a book but with no photos. It can be done.
 
A big problem I have is that everybody demands a bookful of stunning images and the text is there really just to back up the pretty pictures. The images do not even need to be particularly informative, for example hardly anybody includes accurate 3-views to a standard scale any more: they are too boring. But a poor image of some contemporary three-view by the designer's dog, wow now that is so saleable we have no room to tell you what the writing on it actually says.

There are huge numbers of wonderful images tucked away in old archives. But unless you happen to own the copyright (say, a lifelong collection of old photographs), bringing them out into the open costs an absolute fortune. And they all want payment up-front before you can get hold of a copy, while the publisher is uninterested until you have got them all written up. So you are expected to speculate a small fortune - say £5,000 for thirty or so images - with no guarantee of ever getting any of it back, and even if it is published you will be lucky to see a tenth (See also Schneideman's gripe, above).

So I am not sure to what extent Fonthill really want authors per se, like most publishers they probably want image libraries with an author on the side. For example my biography of pioneer aviator J.W. Dunne would benefit from a good selection of the archive's photographs and documents - most never yet published. But I cannot afford the investment.

It's possible (where the material's copyright owner is still existing) to get a no-fee reproduction agreement, depending on the company in question. This depends on the copyright owners attitude. Some aviation manufacturers will grant such an agreement with a work of substantive historical value about their former or current products, or when the author is a former employee.

Others will charge like wounded bulls.

In some cases, archives or photo libraries will charge a fee for reproduction of their physical asset e.g. a photo scan, and even charge extra for granting 'rights to publish', but that doesn't stop you needing to get permission (and possibly pay a license fee) from the copyright holder as well.

I don't object to paying costs for a scan, but if I have e.g. Northrop Grumman's permission to reproduce their copyrighted photo, I can't see why I need to pay extra to a photo library for rights to publish their scan of that photo in a book depending on the print run or photo size.
 
… Since my book was published in 2012, and reprinted a few years ago, I have not received a single annual sales statement from Fonthill. This is a clear requirement of our contract that Fonthill blatantly ignore and neither the manager nor Jay chose to respond to e-mails on the subject.
If you are hoping to have a book published you are probably best advised to avoid Fonthill.
I also posted this comment on another forum where it drew a response from a fellow author whose experience matches my own. Are we, perhaps, getting an insight into the business methods of Fonthill?
 
I understand the low income and lack of money statements, but authors, after usually years of hard work, need to understand the hurdles in front of them. A good copyright attorney is strongly suggested. Yes, I know, the cost. But without good and complete information about the formalities, a book may never see the light of day.
 
Removed Justo's post. He has received yearly statements from Fonthill and included one as proof - I don't think this should be posted on the forum however.
 
Good to hear that Justo has been treated appropriately by Fonthill. Perhaps they will have the courtesy to do the same for me (and others)
 
By the way,

in this time (2012),maybe the member who open this topic,sent to me a message if I could write any of
those books and he was ready to publish it,but I was busy in this period so I refused,now I can write a
book.
 
Hi,
I have recently completed my biography of J W Dunne, "The Man Who Dreamed Tomorrow."
He fought briefly in the Boer War, flew the world's first stable aeroplane in 1910 in front of an astonished Orville Wright, and became most famous for his precognitive dreams, influencing the works of HG Wells, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, JB Priestley, Robert Heinlein, Vladimir Nabokov and a host of others.
Now I am looking for a publisher.

However according to their website Fonthill have published nothing in the last year and a half, while a reader comment on Amazon suggests that the Steve Winwood biography was not actually released for another twelve months. Given other hiccups reported in this thread, I would want to know a lot more about what has been going down with Fonthill before I would be prepared to commit.

(Also, their website plays really badly with those of us who mistrust the data-slurping "javascript" that most sites are infested with. I can only access a handful of pages in what I feel is adequate safety. But hey, what does a time-served infosec hack know.)
 
Thank you. I wonder why the web site does not appear to reflect that.
 
Because you've disabled the javascript?
 
Because you've disabled the javascript?
No, because the site content doesn't appear to have been updated in eighteen months. I do not need to enable javascript to see that (though I did, just because I knew someone like you would ask. I also checked out the page code and a few other things). But hey, what does a time-served infosec hack know.
 
'the site content doesn't appear to have been updated in eighteen months'
Well, since I went to their page and clicked on the first publication 'Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal', and noted its publication date as August 2019, I might suggest that a time-served infosec hack knows little.
 

Both show lots of new books. Which website isn't up to date?
 
'the site content doesn't appear to have been updated in eighteen months'
Well, since I went to their page and clicked on the first publication 'Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal', and noted its publication date as August 2019.


Both show lots of new books. Which website isn't up to date?

The second given by Overscan, www.fonthill.media, is the one I have been visiting. As I said, it is not playing well with my browser. When I enable local javascript for the site (no cross-site scripting), I get a display with a big blank in the middle. Hovering over an option from the main menu, HOME - DISCOVER BOOKS - AMERICA THROUGH TIME - BLOG - CONTACT US, brings up pages dating from years ago.
The DISCOVER BOOKS list of latest releases features "A Man Called Plenty Horses" from a year or so ago, while the latest BLOG post is New Books December 2017.
But none of the links in these pages is active and the pages vanish when I move the pointer away.
I established that enabling shopify brings up more activity, but it did not occur to me to check that that activity was displaying stuff some 18 months newer than the stuff the local site had already offered me. Now that I have been prompted to compare the dating for both modes, I can say this:
The www.fonthill.media site itself is confirmed to be woefully out of date. However the shopify content does appear to be up to date. It is necessary to enable the shopify cross-site content before the Fonthill site display updates itself.
So there, we are all correct but we are all only partly correct. This old hack does know a bit more than some armchair button-clickers might appear to.

My suggestion to Fonthill would be to clean down their default display to a "please enable javascript" message and not leave old content lying around (simply replace the unwanted content with the code "<noscript>Please enable javascript to view this site</noscript>" or similar).
In the context of the current thread, I am very glad to see that it is just a typical Internet techno-mess that has caused the problem, it is nothing to do with Fonthill's business. I think that last needs emphasising loud and clear.
 
Last edited:
I spotted this on the Casemate/Fonthill site:

It appears to be a re-issue of the Westland-Putnam.
From the Casemate site:
This comprehensive book provides a detailed history of Westland from its earliest days. The text was first published in 1991 and revised and updated in 1995.
I am a bit mystified that the title says "fixed wing aircraft 1915-1953" where the Putnam title also covers helicopters - if I remember correctly. I will check my copy.
 
Last edited:
The Putnam certainly featured Westland's helicopters too. Looks like they have removed the rotary-wing parts, the page count of the new Casemate book seems about half that of the Putman, even allowing for a different sized format. Probably a decision to allow larger picture reproduction and a more manageable size.

What I would love to see would be an updated Westland helicopter book.
 
The second given by Overscan, www.fonthill.media, is the one I have been visiting. As I said, it is not playing well with my browser. When I enable local javascript for the site (no cross-site scripting), I get a display with a big blank in the middle. Hovering over an option from the main menu, HOME - DISCOVER BOOKS - AMERICA THROUGH TIME - BLOG - CONTACT US, brings up pages dating from years ago.
The DISCOVER BOOKS list of latest releases features "A Man Called Plenty Horses" from a year or so ago, while the latest BLOG post is New Books December 2017.
But none of the links in these pages is active and the pages vanish when I move the pointer away.
I established that enabling shopify brings up more activity, but it did not occur to me to check that that activity was displaying stuff some 18 months newer than the stuff the local site had already offered me. Now that I have been prompted to compare the dating for both modes, I can say this:
The www.fonthill.media site itself is confirmed to be woefully out of date. However the shopify content does appear to be up to date. It is necessary to enable the shopify cross-site content before the Fonthill site display updates itself.
So there, we are all correct but we are all only partly correct. This old hack does know a bit more than some armchair button-clickers might appear to.

I click on the link which you give to the fontill.media site, and what do I see?
'Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal', and noted its publication date as August 2019.
 

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