Schneider Trophy Seaplanes and Flying Boats: Victors, Vanquished and Visions

overscan (PaulMM)

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http://www.fonthillmedia.com/article_978-1-78155-179-0/Schneider

By forum member Schneiderman.

The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider (commonly called the Schneider Trophy, or prize or cup) was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931. It was meant to encourage technical advances in civil aviation but became a contest for pure speed with laps over a triangular course (initially 280 km, later 350 km). The races were very popular and some attracted crowds of over 200,000 spectators. Since 1977 the trophy has been on display at the Science Museum in London.

The race was very significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of WW2. The streamlined shape and the low drag, liquid-cooled engine pioneered by Schneider Trophy designs are obvious in the British Supermarine Spitfire, the American P-51 Mustang, and the Italian Macchi C.202 Folgore.

This book is a history of the 100+ different aircraft types designed to contest for the Schneider Trophy from its inception in 1912 through to the final post-script in 1934. The narrative covers the political dynamics of the contests, the rivalries and the partnerships that led to the development of these aircraft. Each aircraft and engine is described along with the story of their construction and testing. The core of the book is a set of detailed 1:72 scale 3-view drawings and photographs from the author’s personal collection, most of which have not been published previously. The text and drawings draw upon the author’s comprehensive library of drawings, photographs, blueprints, reports, books and magazines on the subject and contain much new information. The majority of these aircraft, including some of the better known types, have been served poorly in the past in terms of availability of drawings. The book will appeal both to readers with a casual interest in the Schneider Trophy and to those seeking a comprehensive source of information on the subject. It will be of particular use to aircraft modellers. At present there are no books in print on the subject of the Schneider Trophy, the most recent in English was published in 2000. The majority of the more recent books date from 1981, the 50th anniversary of the final contest.

275 x 215 mm • hardback • 384 pages • 200 illustrations

RRP £ 35.00
 

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Alraedy out of stock at Amazon.. hope that does not last till Christmas!!
 
tartle said:
Alraedy out of stock at Amazon.. hope that does not last till Christmas!!

I understand the book isn't released yet. Amazon from EEUU and Barnes&Nobles list it as available on April of 2013 :(
 
The author believes it has been printed but is not sure of release date - he is trying to confirm.
 
The publishers tell me that the book has been dispatched to the various UK sellers. I will let you know the situation for the US later this week.
 
How deeply does the book cover engines and engine installations?
 
Hi,

Well it covers the development of the engines along with the aircraft but I'm not sure I understand what you mean by installations. Of course I am more than happy to discuss specific issues, and perhaps supply more information, to anyone that buys the books and has questions ;)

Cheers
 
Hi! By installations I mean how e.g. the cooling system was arranged on a particular plane.
 
Yes, the book does cover these kind of details. Always happy to help with extra information if required
 
Hi! I think I'll buy the book before asking further questions. :) Though I wonder why those sample pages are not yet (checked earlier this week) on the publisher's site...
 
Yes, they could do a better job. Here are some samples........
 

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Here you go........

By the way the 3-view drawings are full-page, 1:72 scale and based on the best material I could find; company blueprints and plans wherever possible.
 

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Thanks for the sample - it helps a lot with the decision to purchase (as style and clarity can matter as much as accuracy).

Does the book include tables with statistics for the aircraft (e.g. wing area, landing speed)?
 
Schneiderman, looks very good again! Seems that I have a new book on my shelves in a month or two (Christmas budget appears to be taken :()... :)
 
Avimimus,

There is no single table but the individual drawings include dimension data, not landing speed though. If you have specific questions I can always check to see whether I have the information.
 
Great News!!! The book is listed as available from Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1781551790/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Sadly, I've just ordered some others book :( but in the next one I'll order this one.
 
From what the samples show, the book's design is an absolute catastrophe! Unworthy of today's editorial standards.
 
You get readable text, 1:72 diagrams, decent size photos (if the single photo shown is representative). It's on my wish list.
 
Stargazer2006 said:
From what the samples show, the book's design is an absolute catastrophe! Unworthy of today's editorial standards.

I'm unsure why you call it a 'catastrophe'. I can only see the one page sample and it looks fine to me. I have ordered this book.
 
Nick Sumner said:
Stargazer2006 said:
From what the samples show, the book's design is an absolute catastrophe! Unworthy of today's editorial standards.

I'm unsure why you call it a 'catastrophe'. I can only see the one page sample and it looks fine to me. I have ordered this book.

The word "catastrophe" may be a little exaggerated, but I still find it terrible compared to today's standards. The layout of the pages (two wide columns, a photo with lots of empty space next to it, three-view plans with no personality) reminds me of what fan magazines looked like in the 1970s. Publishers keep complaining that their art is on the decline but they have to understand that if you are to publish something that has real bonus value over digital downloads, you must create an object that is highly desirable from an aesthetic viewpoint. Midland's Secret Projects series, for instance is exactly that.
 
It does have the benefit of looking clean and unfussy. I like it, but of course it is hard to tell from one page sample.
 
Stargazer2006 said:
From what the samples show, the book's design is an absolute catastrophe! Unworthy of today's editorial standards.

Ouch! ;)
 
Yes, the layout could be better, but provided the content is interesting that's a relatively minor thing for me. Its rather rude to label it a catastrophe.
 
The commisioning editor for aviation books at Fonthill is a member of this forum, perhaps he would like to respond
 
I think comments should be reserved for people who've actually seen the book not just looked at a single page sample.
 
I would like to understand something here (especially since it doesn't seem to be the first time such a thing happens):

Is this forum an independently-minded entity made up of free individuals entitled to their own opinions, able to criticize a publication or a movie in all independence, or does this forum have strings attached? Are we supposed to flatter the publishers and the authors just because they might be members/visitors/contributors/donators/friends/whatever?

As I have said, the word "catastrophe" in my mouth was awkward and without a doubt a hasty translation of a French colloquialism implying something awful, dreadful, terrible, but certainly not a disaster. This being said, I want to be entitled to my own views, and if I think a book's samples look awful, dated, fanzine-like, unpleasant to the eye, and not worthy of an addition to my library (especially since this is certainly not the first or the only book on the subject) then I want to be able to express it unrestrained. A sample is meant to be an appetizer, and this surely doesn't appetize me. At present time, it certainly doesn't look like the kind of book I would have liked to see produced on the subject.

Likewise, I think it fair that adverse opinions to mine be expressed equally freely, and I'm always willing to be proven wrong. Who knows? Perhaps the final release will be a pleasant surprise?
 
I have the book and I have to say that probably my and Stargazer's preferences are like fire and water. He probably prefers ragged-right (=crime against humanity, a capital offense), "modernism" (=cacophony) etc. I found the layout very reader-friendly: clear, no frills, logical, economical (there is little wasted space on an average page). In short, it works very well for those who READ books, not just look at them.
 
Pasoleati said:
In short, it works very well for those who READ books, not just look at them.

Please stop insulting my intelligence.

I may have a different approach to yours, as you well underlined, that still doesn't make me any less of an aviation buff, any less of a reader or any less knowledgeable as you.

There are people who care only for the contents and don't care about the container. They can read a 600-page book in small print with no pics... Fine!
There are people who care only for pictures. They buy only cofffee-table books full of color pics and don't care much for specs and details... Fine!

Publishers do books for each of these categories of buyers. You need to appreciate the fact that these two categories of buyers exist and they have their place.

But then, there are those like me who happen to think that form is just AS important AS substance. Form alone is pointless, contents alone is boring, but a clever combination of the two is a joy for the eyes and for the mind. And this viewpoint, too, is to be respected.

In my view, saying that design is of no importance is like saying that what they like about a woman is only her conversation... If you find the lady very clever but you find her disgraceful, it could last a while but might not be enough for your love to endure a lifetime.

Of course, reversely, if the lady looks gorgeous but is a complete idiot, it won't take you very far... But now, imagine a woman that is both clever and good-looking... You'd want to spend the rest of your life with them! Well, to me a book that is both beautiful and packed with info is the kind I will covet and then love for a lifetime.

So if a subject is of great interest to me and has not yet been covered before, I can make the effort of buying a book even though it's not a real looker. However, if the subject has been covered before and is generally well-known, I can do without it. As I said before, the best book is the one which I will read while thinking it's exactly the kind of book I would have loved to be able to put out myself. I get exactly that feeling reading the Secret Projects series, the Aerofax series, the Putnam series (no frills books, for sure, but very pleasant), or the Schiffer Military History series, for instance. Perfect balance between content and presentation!
 
"Catastrophe"
an extremely large-scale disaster, a horrible event
A complete failure; a fiasco

Its a strong word in English. If the design is "disastrous, a complete failure, a fiasco", there is the strong implication that the book must be unfit for purpose and/or worthless.

If you can judge that based on a single page, without seeing the book in its entirety, then you are clearly some kind of psychic. The Schiffer books I own are poor design in my opinion. This is my opinion based on owning Schiffer books, looking at them, and reading them, and is therefore an opinion based on physical evidence.

"From the samples given, I don't like the design" would be fair comment. "the book's design is an absolute catastrophe" based on viewing a JPG of one page really isn't.

Remember politeness? It's part of the rules. If someone asks me on the forum "what do you think of my website" (and I think its design sucks donkey balls) I would probably post something like "I don't really like it myself" or even make specific constructive criticisms of bad choices in the design. I would never post "LOL! Your website is catastrophically bad dude!" which is basically what you did. It is just plain rude.

Maybe British English sensitivities are different. I have no financial or other hidden motivation. Just politeness.
 
Schneiderman said:
Oh well, one less sale ;)

Please accept my apologies. I had not re-read the whole topic when I posted. For that reason I failed to realize that the author of the book was actually a member and that we were not just discussing a book release from an exterior viewpoint.

I will gladly purchase your book, if only to make up for the damage I caused.
 
Frankly, I think that Pasoleati and Stargazer owe apologies, if not to each other, then to Schneiderman and to all the viewers of this forum, since their behavior is, to my mind, totally unacceptable for this forum. They are entitled to their opinions, but there are tactful ways to present those. My philosophy is, if you can't say something positive about someone or something, you'd be better off simply not saying it, at least in a public forum.

I just received the book from Amazon today and after a first pass-through, I really like it, and I think that it will become the standard reference on Schneider Trophy aircraft, both the ones that flew and the ones that didn't.

I particularly enjoy the fact that minor variations, either of different aircraft of the same model, or of the same aircraft at different times, all merited individual three-view drawings. All of these drawings are identified as to date, location, pilot (if applicable) and race number (ditto). Some drawings are more detailed than others, but that is a function of the available source material, and in fact the author provides an appendix showing all the source materials used to create each drawing, with subjective ratings given as to the reliability of the source materials. There are also additional cutaway three-views of many of the later aircraft. Particularly nice is a comparison of the floats on the S.6, S.6A and S.6B.

I also like the fact that there are course maps provided for each race, and usually a reproduction of each one's official poster. There aren't too many photos, but with all of the drawings that is not, to me, a big deal. It appears that every aircraft that was ever intended for Schneider appearances is shown, including many that I was unfamiliar with, especially in the 1931-and-later period.

The book has a pretty good-looking bibliography and index, and the production values seem very good to me. If you have any interest in the technology of the Schneider Trophy era, I think that you need this book. (I should point out that I have been an airframe design engineer for 35 years, so I appreciate books like this!)
 
gatoraptor said:
They are entitled to their opinions, but there are tactful ways to present those. My philosophy is, if you can't say something positive about someone or something, you'd be better off simply not saying it, at least in a public forum.

Yes. Personally I'm ok with constructive criticism, which can be as simple as rewording a statement in a less offensive manner.

If I think a film sucks I might tell my friends I think it sucks. I don't take out a billboard advertisement saying "Don't watch The Hobbit, it sucks". I won't go to a film industry event and wander around telling everyone "The Hobbit film sucks" - for one thing I might say it to someone who worked on the film.

A forum on the internet is a public space, not a private one, and you don't know who is reading what you say. Your words may even be preserved forever in the Internet Archive. Therefore you should always think before posting, and not behave the same way you might when talking to your mates at the pub.
 
Many thanks to those who have given positive feedback on the book, much appreciated. I guess, like many first-time authors, I really wrote the book myself so it is good to know that others find it interesting too. The 3-view drawings were done long before the book was written and therefore dictated the size and format to a large extent.

No offense taken Stargazer2006. It sure took you a while to realise that I was reading your posts, my Avatar and login name may have provided you with a clue ;D. The subject has indeed been covered by earlier works, all of which I have in my library, but as they are/were either incomplete or prone to errors I thought it worthwhile writing another one. However its still incomplete as I dropped a lot of the people stories and concentrated on the aircraft and politics otherwise it would have turned out to be far to long.

Second book, non-Schneider, nearing completion
 
what is your next book going to be about Schneiderman?
 

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