Never claimed to be a historian, definitely not an academic. I'm a rummager who's lucky enough to have the time to write books about aircraft for people interested in aircraft, not academics. Academics don't have time to write the type of books Schneiderman and I have written. Nor do we get snowflaky about 'mistakes' in prior art. Plus our drawings are better.
My stuff has been compared with Walking with Dinosaurs by an academic, which I was quite pleased about. I knew exactly what they meant. They are entertainment, informative, but still entertainment.
'Write your own' or 'Do your own research' aren't cop-outs, it's why we wrote our books in the first place - we took our own advice. However, if you want academic rigour, 30% of the page count being references/citations and peer-reviewed products from me, you'll have to wait until a Chancellor whacks me on the head and whispers Latin in my ear. Again.
Chris