We now have another great Hikoki book on prototype, research and production aircraft. This volume is on early US jet fighters and covers a period from the end of the war until around the mid 1950s. This was a time when there was much new in aviation and the development of turbine and rocket power allowed what is probably the greatest growth in the parameters of military aircraft.

When you think a subject has already been covered before, along comes a book that puts things into a new and interesting light. Rather than just a listing of aircraft types, this one looks at design requests, covering all of the proposals that led to a final decision of some sort. Both US Army/USAF and Navy projects are covered.

Let me give you a 'for instance'. One proposal was for a US Navy night fighter that was drawn up in June of 1945 and sent to manufacturers a few months later. Specs for this aircraft were a 475 mph speed at 45,000 feet and the ability to intercept an enemy at 125 miles at 40,000 feet. Combat radius had to be 350 nm and an initial rate of climb was to be 3,500ft/min. The aircraft had to operate in all weather conditions and be able to destroy surface targets as well. Quite a task for mid-1945.

Several proposals were put through, all of them straight wing designs. Bell put forth  the model D-31 powered by two turboprops out near the end of the wings. Chance-Vought proposed the V-343 in both turbojet and turboprop designs. Convair had the model 4505, a jet powered aircraft while Curtiss-Wright proposed a turboprop aircraft. Douglas offered several designs under the D-561 designator and Goodyear offered the GA-13 turboprop design. Grumman offered a Model 75 with four jet engines. The winning designs were by Douglas and by Grumman. I was surprised at how similar the airframes were in all of the designs (at least in this instance as others had wildly varying offerings for the same spec). Eventually, the Douglas design won the contract to become the F3D Skyknight.

Each of the various design sections, and there are a dozen of them, includes not only a description of each proposal, but the design specs hoped for by the designs of each manufacturer. This is accompanied by factory drawings and sometimes models of the projects that did not make into mockup. Sometimes several projects were chosen and so there would be mockups of the aircraft. Some had several planes make it into prototype form. And sometimes, there was a fly off and none of the proposals was accepted for production. This often happened when it became clear that the proposal was too advanced or the requirement had disappeared.

Chock full of great period photographs, the book is an outstanding look at what used to be the way that military aircraft were designed and decided. Today, things have changed a great deal. There are no more prototypes with the chosen design based more on politics than on capabilities. Witness the current debacle regarding the F-35 as a prime example of this.

The book is a must have for the enthusiast of '50s aircraft and deserves a place on the shelf of anyone interested in the fascinating designs of the forties and fifties. Most highly recommended.

October 2013

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