[php] [/php]

The ultimate Spitfire History.

Spitfire, The History

I was gifted the first edition of this book and was immediately captivated by it, the book is a facinating look at the Spitfire from its inception to retirement and everything in between.

Written by Eric B Morgan and Edward Shacklady and first published in 1987, the book comprises over 600 large format pages with over 1400 illustrations many of them in colour, along with the service history and serial number of every Spitfire ever built.

With a foreword by Jeffrey Quill, who was involved in the test programme before becoming cheif test pilot with Supermarine. He said of Eric B Morgan and Edward Shacklady…..

 

They have made full use of the material at their disposal to produce what must be as difinitive a history of the Spitfire as is ever likely to be written.

Jeffrey Quill

Chief Test Pilot, Supermarine

Is it worth it?

When the second edition was published in 2000 I bought a copy and still have both, they are the reference I use for all things Spitfire. The book is not by any means a light read, but it contains a wealth of information just not available from any other sources and for me is invaluable.

Containing information on every single Spitfire built, with some fantastic detail – this is a truely worthwhile addition to any aviation enthusiast’s library and if you have an interest in the Spitfire then this book will have pride of place in your collection.

The book is sometimes available on Amazon, or from the used book companies that advertise their books through Amazon – sometimes available at a reasonable price in the order of £30 – but sometimes commanding much more. So if you have an interest in the Spitfire, having a copy of your own is a worthwhile investment and it is likely to be well used.

Other Reviewers

There are a number of reviews of the book visible on Amazon reviews and all of them are very positive, for me it was interesting seeing what other people though of the book by reading their reviews.

 

Keeping this site running.

Site Costs

Although not a massive expense, keeping this site running does cost a bit. I’ve had the occassional donation – but they are occassional and I drink a lot of coffee along with eating the odd dohnut. So as an additional cost covering stream I’ve started an Amazon Associate account, just to try and defray the costs for the site a bit more. This means that there will be Amazon links in some posts, there will also be reviews of any spotting related products that I buy.

 The site used to carry links to aviation stuff on Amazon, usually books that I thought would be suitable for people interested in aircraft and their histories. So the site will not look that different, but if you are thinking of buying something from Amazon – coming here and clicking through on a link would help – it also doesn’t cost you any more for the product.

What does it mean for the site, well it should hopefully mean that I will be less out of pocket than I am. And I may be able to find more interesting things to post about, anyway that is the gist of it.

MH370 – Will it be found?

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The disappearance of the Boeing 777-200ER remains one of the most puzzling aviation mysteries of all time. Despite extensive search efforts, the wreckage of the plane has never been found, and the fate of the 239 people on board remains unknown.

The initial search for the plane focused on the South China Sea, where it was believed to have crashed. However, subsequent investigations suggested that the plane had flown off course and may have ended up in the southern Indian Ocean. This led to a massive search effort involving more than two dozen countries, but no trace of the plane was found.

The disappearance of MH370 raised many questions about the safety of air travel and the ability of modern technology to track planes. The plane’s communication systems were deliberately turned off, suggesting that someone on board had hijacked the aircraft. This has led to theories that the plane was intentionally diverted and may have been flown to a remote location.

The search for MH370 was one of the most expensive and extensive in aviation history, costing an estimated $150 million. The search involved advanced underwater search technology, including autonomous underwater vehicles and towed sonar systems. Despite these efforts, the wreckage of the plane has never been found, leading some to speculate that the search was not thorough enough or that the plane may have been deliberately hidden.

The disappearance of MH370 has had a profound impact on the aviation industry. It has led to increased scrutiny of airline safety procedures, including the use of satellite tracking systems and cockpit security measures. It has also raised concerns about the need for improved communication and coordination between airlines and aviation authorities.

In addition to the technical and operational questions raised by the disappearance of MH370, there have also been emotional and psychological impacts on the families of the passengers and crew. For many, the lack of closure and the uncertainty surrounding the fate of their loved ones has been devastating.

In conclusion, the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 remains one of the most baffling aviation mysteries of all time. The extensive search efforts have failed to locate the wreckage of the plane, leaving many questions unanswered. The incident has had far-reaching implications for the aviation industry and has led to increased scrutiny of safety procedures and technology. Despite the passage of time, the search for answers continues, and the families of the passengers and crew remain in search of closure.

The definitive Boeing 707/C-135 book.

The Boeing 707 was a great success, but it was probably most successful in it’s military guises. Known internally at Boeing as the ‘B717’, a designation that was re-used for the MD9 after the Boeing/McDonnell-Douglas merger. The militarised version had numerous military designations and although ageing, many are still in service with many of the worlds militaries today.

It is likely that a number of these will remain in service for an other 20 years or even longer, there are airframes that potentially could actually be flying antiques in the truest sense of the word.

Why was the aircraft such a success, it did what it said on the tin – the versatility and sturdiness of the militarised version have made it a winner. Operated in many varying roles by many air forces, the aircraft has a proven track record – delivering as they say a lot of bang for each buck.

The primary variants C, EC, KC, NC, RC, OC and WC only explain some of the geneology of the type. There were also the C137, E3, the E6 and a number of other variants – but ultimately these were all variants of the original Boeing 707.

All you ever wanted to know is covered in the book, it is a pretty definative work – very readable and great value. If you have an interest in the Boeing 707 or the C135, this book is a must extremely detailed and some fantastic illustrations just completes the book.

 

Prestwick – 2021 Log

So the testing of the tables and the search facility continues, this data set now comprises a full year of visitors to Prestwick. The based aircraft are not incorporated in the log, mainly due to the fact that each one would add 365 rows to the table – and a search would likely return 365 rows of data.

In order that the table is displayed properly it is at the bottom of the post, where it should be out the way of the rest of the post. The next test will be to break the year down into individual months, I’m going to experiment with various layouts and content to see what works best.

Some additional search and filtering tips, there is now a dropdown at the right hand side if the search bar. This allows the fields searched to be toggled on or off, this will allow more controlled searching and should make life a little easier.

It is possible to order the data by any of the column headings, simply click on the heading to order by alphanumeric ascending or decending – this will work on search results if required.

The data comes from a number of public sources, I have automated some of the data collection and hope to improve it over time.

Additionally I have started on the automation of the building of the logs but there is still some manual intervention required, it is still a manual proces to put it in the database – but eventually I may be able to automate some of the steps.

Soviet & Russian Testbed Aircraft

In the books 400+ pages there were some real revelations for me, along with a number of major eye openers. When you compare the time lines of some of the Soviet projects covered in the book to some of the Western projects, the reasons for a few things become clearer.

The pictures of the full delta winged MiG 21 were absolutely fascinating, but there are so many photographs of one of types that it is hard to say what was the most interesting.

This is an other of these definative books, with over 700 photographs – many in colour and around 70 illustrations along with many technical specifications. The authors have done huge amounts of research, they have obviously been granted the highest levels of access to the information from a number of sources.

As someone with a lifelong interest in aviation, I was astonished at the information contained in this book. As a reference book it is brilliant, from a modeling point of view – probably only those interested in scratch building would be interested. All in all if you have any interest in Soviet Aircraft, this book is well worth the money.