ESSENTIALLY AN ALBUM of photographs of racing aircraft and aircraft which have set new records, together with many of the pilots and a few of the designers involved, this is really mainly a book for the aviation old-timer enthusiast.
ESSENTIALLY AN ALBUM of photographs of racing aircraft and aircraft which have set new records, together with many of the pilots and a few of the designers involved, this is really mainly a book for the aviation old-timer enthusiast. Air racing is covered from the earliest races at Reims in 1908 right up to 1940. It includes a detailed chapter on the technical and performance contributions made by the Schneider Trophy Races.
Post-WWII, the theme changes slightly, to the closely allied one of record setting. Here we find little machines like the Cassut Racer and Cosmic Wind alongside such multi-million machines as the Fairey F.D.2, Douglas Skyray and the Convair Hustler.
The layout of several pages is less than ideal, with some captions not being clearly associated with the appropriate photograph, and reproduction of a few of the photos is a bit iffy. There are a few glaring omissions too, such as the first post-war speed record flights of 606 mph and then 616 mph by Gloster Meteor IVs in 1945 and 1946.
