When i was younger i used to have this military aircraft book which was probably some encyclopaedia. It had side-on colour drawings of loads of aircraft and most had the top side and front elevations too, there were also numerous sections where there was a double spread with one aircraft kind of pulled apart and all the little bits numbered and explained, like you could see the insides of the aircraft (this must have a name!). It must have been 500 pages or so, and I think there was a pic of a corsair II on one of the inner covers....

Does anyone know the book or a book like the one i'm describing? I'd love to get a copy now.

Thanks, Rich

I think the book that you were talking about was called "Aircraft Profiles." They had several in a series of books covering very many aircraft. There is a book that I have called"Cockpits" that is very good; I just ordered a book from Amazon:"Scale Aircraft Drawings: World War I"; I don't think you will find all of what you are looking for in one volume. There is also a Japanese artist who does some of the finest art (details as well as exterior paintings) on aircraft I have seen; I can't think of his name, but I have some books at home...I'll see if I can get his name for you. There are a lot of resources around, but not all the information in one place, particularly the 'x-ray' views of the aircraft. Maybe this helps a bit.

Matt

Matt, that sounds a lot like Rikyu Watanabe, and the book sounds quite a bit like 'The Great Book of WWII Airplanes'.

The Great Book of WWII Airplanes

That's it!!! I also have one specifically about the Corsair (F4U) that he did...great art, beautiful reference.

Thanks, Alex,
Matt

Hey Matt , beware that Scale Aircraft Drawings book in not very accurate . ( I have that book )

Don't get me wrong it is a great book but make sure you have others to go by as well .

Thanks, Terri. I am never quite sure how accurate any of them are, but I take a look and glean a little information from each. I like looking at plan views and cutaways, just to appreciate both the complexity of the design and production. Particularly at the time of WWI this is quite interesting because of the limitations of materials and manufacturing methods at the time. The only limitation on man's ability to create is any brakes that he puts on imagination and/or creativity. The 'stringbags' certainly illustrate that point. I look on this site, and see the builds that you and others have done, and am totally amazed at your innovation in technique and execution. All of you inspire me to build a 'bag and see how it goes. I got a new book over the weekend while in Carmel, CA: it is "Ghosts of the Great War", photographs, history and some writing. Very interesting. A quote for you from the book (which I think anyone who appreciates this era in flight will enjoy):

"So it was that war in the air began. Men rode upon the whirlwind that night and slew and fell like archangels. The sky rained heroes upon the astonished earth. Surely the last fights of mankind were the best. What was the heavy pounding of your Homeric swordsmen, what was the creaking charge of chariots, beside this swift rush, this crash, this giddy triumph, this headlong swoop to death?" --H.G. Wells

thanks, and 'build on',
Matt