This is another in the superb 'Secret Projects' series and concentrates this time on American fighter projects from the end of WWII up until the first flight of the F-18 Hornet.

Of course, these are not all truly 'secret' but are designs and propositions that were never accepted into production, though quite a few of these did make it to the prototype stage. This is especially true of the earlier designs, when both the military and the airframe manufacturers were not sure what would work and what would not. In those early days to turbojet power, it was often the power plant that was the result of an aircraft not being chosen for production as it was the fault of the airframe itself.

In this latest book on the series, Author Tonly Buttler takes a good look at the design and evolution of the American fighter/interceptor. The book covers both USAF and USN aircraft development, starting with the first jets and jet proposals, designs for the Century Series, long range interceptor designs, later Naval aircraft, the interest in VTOL aircraft, boat fighters (as in seaplanes) and the light weight fighter competition.

All of this is superbly illustrated using archival photography and in many cases, both period scale models or models developed to illustrate specific aircraft. In fact, there are over 400 color and black and white photographs, making this a most useful reference. It is quite interesting as well to see how the designs for some of our more famous aircraft such as the F-14 and F-15 developed to give us the planes that eventually reached production.

Overall, a fascinating read on the development of American fighter aircraft and a look at what could have been.  Of course, there is much more to the book than what brief glimpses I have provided in this article. If you have the fascination that I have with these sorts of things, then this is a book you simply must have.

January 2008

Review book courtesy of Specialty Press , where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books. Visit their website at the link above or call them at 1-800-895-4585

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