British Special Projects: Flying Wings, Deltas and Tailless Designs

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British Special Projects: Flying Wings, Deltas and Tailless Designs​


Bill Rose

British Special Projects: Flying Wings, Deltas and Tailless Designs: Amazon.co.uk: Bill Rose: 9781781558058: Books

Buy British Special Projects: Flying Wings, Deltas and Tailless Designs by Bill Rose (ISBN: 9781781558058) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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12 Nov. 2020​


This book takes a carefully considered look at the history of many lesser known but nevertheless advanced British flying wing, delta and tailless aircraft that stretch across much of the last century. The emphasis is on classified projects considered for research or military purposes, but also includes those aircraft that were built, flown and entered service. The first commercially successful British flying wing biplane was designed by John Dunne and undertook limited military duties during the First World War. Soon, the early flying wing designs gave way to sleeker boomerangs that looked impressive, but often suffered with aerodynamic shortcomings. These were followed by the arrival of advanced wartime German jet powered delta projects initiated by Dr Alexander Lippisch. They were massively influential, with most post-war scientists and engineers immediately recognised the potential for a new generation of high performance warplanes. By the late 1940s, the UK required advanced jet powered bombers capable of carrying atomic bombs over long distances. This created many unusual, often German influenced designs that finally resulted in the V-Bombers. They were followed by short lived concepts for even larger aircraft that were not only capable of delivering nuclear weapons, but powered by nuclear propulsion. At the same time, interest in variable geometry wings gathered momentum, leading to the supersonic Swallow with its impressive science-fiction appearance. Sadly this Barnes Wallace concept was too far ahead of its time to overcome a number of technical issues, but the influence on American combat aircraft was considerable. The British also pushed ahead with ideas for vertical take-off fighters and the delta wing was often the first choice for many proposals. By the 1960s, Britain was attempting to gain a foothold in the space race. Plans were drawn up for rocket launching sites within the UK and the development of exotic delta winged space fighters. The ideas were impressive, although the technology was well beyond the UK's ability to fund and develop. These were glorious times for British aircraft designers who often pushed their ideas to the boundaries of what was possible, with design studies that remain influential today.

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Last edited by a moderator:
Expansion should be substantial due to the notable increase in price over precedent titles in the Secret Projects collection
 
Note that this is not a volume of the (British) Secret Projects collection, but it is called British Special Projects and from a different publisher: https://www.fonthill.media/products/special-projects

Size also seems to be smaller than A4 with only 17.2 x 24.8 cm, so indicated number of 288 pages is really only 200 pages A4 equivalent.
 
Dagger said:
Size also seems to be smaller than A4 with only 17.2 x 24.8 cm, so indicated number of 288 pages is really only 200 pages A4 equivalent.
Click to expand...

So that’s still worse than I previously thought. :-(
 
Dagger said:
Note that this is not a volume of the (British) Secret Projects collection, but it is called British Special Projects and from a different publisher: https://www.fonthill.media/products/special-projects

Size also seems to be smaller than A4 with only 17.2 x 24.8 cm, so indicated number of 288 pages is really only 200 pages A4 equivalent.
Click to expand...
Why did you feel a need to point this out? we are all perfectly aware its from a different publisher. However the author wrote a very similar book for Ian Allan in the Secret Projects series some years ago.
 
Dagger, thanks, your answer was informative to me. I see no problem here Paul.

I mentioned the Secret Projects series because current Crécy editions cost no more than 35 € each one.

I've been surprised by the price, 45 €, considering it isn't a new work but an expansion of an existing one which is still available for 30 €.

And 200 pages equivalent...

Covid-19 abruptly raised edition costs?
 
Mm I think I will need to leaf thru a copy in Foyles in London before buying. Covers a lot of disparate stuff which may already be in books I have. Thanks for the heads up.
 
I have to agree with uk75 here, I'm going to wait until I get some reviews before plunking down cash for it. I do have his original work, so I can wait and see if this one is worth it.
 
Bill Rose"s Flying Wings book of 2010 contains only 24 pages
about British flying wing projects .
Compared with the 200+ pages in the new publication ,all about British Special Projects
I think we may expect a lot of new information....
Thus, let us give the book a chance.
 
Looking at the cover of this book reminded me of the cover to Secret Aerospace Projects of the U.S. Navy by Jared Zichek. That book was Volume 1, but no Volume 2 appeared. In any case, this is a book that I hope gets reviewed.
 
Couldnt be bothered going to London in these plague days so have ordered from Amazon
 
Received my xmas gift copy. Haven’t had chance to read through comprehensively yet but initial impressions are good; many of the weirder and more unusual designs as seen in the British secret project series of books, plus a few more. The smaller format versus those books is noticable.
 
Many Thanks for posting the pics Steve. Fonthill makes beautiful looking books. I love this particular format and dimensions.
 
An excellent resource book on the subject, very reccomended without reservation.
A few project designs i was previously unaware of too (and a few well worth modelling) eg. the Griffith design, page 83, HP.119 demonstrator, page 133 and RR./Griffith design patent, page 215, etc. :)
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
Dagger said:
Note that this is not a volume of the (British) Secret Projects collection, but it is called British Special Projects and from a different publisher: https://www.fonthill.media/products/special-projects

Size also seems to be smaller than A4 with only 17.2 x 24.8 cm, so indicated number of 288 pages is really only 200 pages A4 equivalent.
Click to expand...
Why did you feel a need to point this out? we are all perfectly aware its from a different publisher. However the author wrote a very similar book for Ian Allan in the Secret Projects series some years ago.
Click to expand...
Possibly to avoid any confusion that it might represent one of the update/reissue Secret Projects volumes with a slightly altered title. IMHO you can never have too much clarification!
 
What does he say about Dunne? In recent decades folklore has embroidered progressive layers of absurdity, contrasting ever more widely with the reality to be found in contemporary documents and especially the Science Museum's Dunne Collection. We find writers conflating Dunne aircraft with unrelated types, even magicking up fantasy aircraft, only last year a Smithsonian curator claimed they had rudders, all kinds of nonsense. Does Rose fall for any of that, has he done his homework properly, or does he just skid by with a passing nod?
 

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