Book Reviews

AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 201846

Afterburner

Aviation has a history of promoting some weird and not so wonderful machines and their golden age were, it seems, the interwar years

CONQUEST OF THE SKIES

Seeking Range, Endurance, and the Intercontinental BomberBy W Wolf

Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310, USA. 2017. Distributed by Gazelle Book Services Ltd, White Cross Mills, Hightown, Lancaster LA1 4XS, UK. 400pp. Illustrated. £66.99. ISBN 978-0-7643-5321-5.

This large 400-page book, as the sub-title suggests, attempts to chronicle the feats of range and endurance and the obvious connection these two characteristics have with the intercontinental bomber. This is a huge task where the author covers not only the bomber but all modes of flying and the whole period of manned flight. It skips briefly over the first ballooning attempts in the early 1700s and ends with the first transatlantic crossing by a microlight in 2013.

Range, speed and high flying are the three defining characteristics of the aeroplane that set it apart from other forms of transport and it is understandable that the author strays into these areas of performance, namely records involving flight speeds and altitude. In addition, he covers first flights, races, competitions and transcontinental and ocean crossings.

Reading his personal notes, the author, owning a vast library collected over 35 years, would appear to be an aviation enthusiast of the first order. Over two thirds of the book is dedicated to fixed-wing machines of all types and sizes. The remaining pages cover balloons, airships, helicopters, gliders, flight refuelling, microlights and spacecraft plus a

history of the various trophies associated with the early flying achievements. In addition to the mass of performance data, the book includes some lively background cameos on the organisers and pilots involved. These biographical titbits provide a human touch and add to lighten the tone of this hefty work. The author chronicles the achievements of the major nations by giving each a chapter. Beginning with the Italians, he covers the Japanese, Germans, French, British, Soviet and American contributions to long-range flight.

Aviation has a history of promoting some weird and not so wonderful machines and their golden age was, it seems, the interwar years when it was still possible for a company to concoct and build these crackpot schemes and attempt to fly them. In this vein the book records some risible efforts and one cannot but wonder at some of the outlandish contraptions that came off the drawing board during the 1920s and 1930s and, moreover, were allowed to progress to the build stage. For example, the Caproni Ca60, a ‘Trans-Atlantic’ flying boat, designed to carry 100 passengers. This grotesque machine had three sets of triple planes giving a total of nine wings! Powered by eight 400hp engines, the aircraft made just one flight over Lake Maggiore in northern Italy before crashing and breaking up on impact.

Another ‘giant’ was the Dornier DoX. More successful than the previous case – three machines being built. This flying boat had a maximum weight of 123,460lb, was supported by a huge semi-cantilevered monoplane and powered by 12 524hp engines. The prototype, in 1930, successfully made a transatlantic crossing over many stages via the African and Brazilian coasts up to New York, making the return journey in 1931.

Above and above right: Dornier DoX-1b, D-1929, of Lufthansa. RAeS (NAL).

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Overall, an excellent and detailed introduction to the engineering and science behind unmanned aircraft systems

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMSEncyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering seriesBy E Atkins et alJohn Wiley and Sons, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, UK. 2016. 710pp. Illustrated. £190. ISBN 978-1-118-86645-0.

This excellent and wide-ranging book, aimed at a broad range of readers, including students, aircraft designers, systems developers, regulators and those with an interest in this exciting technology, covers the design, development, operation and mission profiles of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This single, comprehensive volume forms a complete, stand-alone reference on the design, development and operation of unmanned aircraft. The volume integrates with the online Wiley Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering, providing many new and updated articles to that work.

It covers a range of UAS issues from platform technology, autonomy, security and fail-safe systems through to integration with manned aviation, plus the regulatory and legal regimes for both small and large UAS.

Edited by Ella Atkins, Aníbal Ollero and Antonios Tsourdos, this comprehensive, 700-page text book contains contributions from over 90 specialists from around the world. The book demonstrates that UAS are truly ‘multidisciplinary systems’ that offer exciting mission capabilities but they also challenge

the traditional aviation assumptions regarding operational norms and personnel roles.

The book is divided into ten manageable parts, ranging from an introduction to UAS, airframe configurations, design, autonomy and control, human oversight, multivehicle co-operation and co-ordination, airspace access and integration issues. It is wide-ranging, containing detailed descriptions of each topic, supported in some chapters by mathematical analysis – details that allow both students of the technology and those with a general interest to understand the issues in more detail – the depth of mathematical analysis in some chapters does not deter from the topic itself but rather provides engineering analysis and explanation for some of the more specialist topics. The book also contains detailed references for each topic, enabling the reader to further explore this exciting technology.

Unlike most textbooks that describe UAS technologies, this book includes chapters that outline privacy, social, insurance, and legal issues in the context of legal precedent and potential emerging public concerns, plus a chapter on system and cybersecurity, providing additional food for thought for those who manufacture and operate UAS.

Overall, an excellent and detailed introduction to the engineering and science behind unmanned aircraft systems.

Andrew ChadwickCEng MRAeS

It would appear from the book that all the major countries had their follies, except Britain and France. The Soviets with their Kalinin K-7 and Tupolev ANT-20, the US with the Hughes H-4 ‘Spruce Goose’ and the Wright’s Field fantastic giant MCD-392 – this last example only reaching the proposal stage. (Of course, the British left their white elephants – the Bristol Brabazon and the Saunders-Roe Princess – to the immediate post-war years. Reviewer’s comment). The photo on p 188 depicting the K-7 airliner could easily have come out of a Hollywood film set from a futuristic novel by Jules Verne or H G Wells. Entry was via a door in one of the fixed undercarriage structures up through the huge spat along the inside of the wing into the fuselage! A nearby truck is dwarfed by this leviathan.

The author covers the post-war period for both bombers and airliners, almost exclusively of US and Russian design, when large multi-engine aircraft were the vogue. Not to be left out, the RAF V-bombers get a mention, particularly the Vulcan bombing sorties during the Falklands War. With

inflight refuelling by Victor tankers, the Vulcans covered the round trip in 16 hours, a world record, at that time, for a bombing raid.

As one would expect with a work of this nature, the book is awash with data and technical features and includes many fascinating details from the aviation world. But it has its faults. For a book of this size the index is brief – covering only personnel. A separate index listing aircraft types would have been welcome. Also, the subtitle could be a touch misleading. Without counting the exact numbers, it would appear the references to the bomber are far fewer than for all other types and the title may have benefitted from ‘bomber’ omission. A few maps depicting the routes of the more extended flights would have been helpful. However, the last two are minor points in an otherwise excellent publication.

The author has covered his subject diligently and – most importantly – the book is a good read.

H J MurrayAffiliate

US

Navy

48

Book ReviewsAfterburner

AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2018

For this to work, a new strategic paradigm is required. The key development of recent years is the evolution of precision American air power

forces and humanitarian aid delivery. The author also points to the strategy of opening a second front to confuse and deceive an enemy. This teaches a lesson from history, as well as having been used in the 1991 Gulf War to confuse the Iraqi army.

But there is no guarantee of success even exploiting the advantages of air power and a new paradigm. For example: Afghanistan still has huge problems with corruption and drugs. The country, and its neighbour Pakistan, have been given billions of dollars in international aid but 17 years of conflict against Jihadists have achieved little in the way of durable success and have cost thousands of lives. The Islamists are still a serious threat and have shown themselves to be adept at creating their own second fronts in North Africa and elsewhere. It remains to be seen whether revised strategies and diplomacy can help America finally to turn a corner in this never-ending war.

Recommended.

Mike BratbyMRAeS

LIMITING RISK IN AMERICA’S WARS

Airpower, Asymmetrics and a New Strategic ProblemBy P S Melinger

Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA. 2017. xx; 278pp. Illustrated. $39.95. ISBN 978-1-68247-250-7.

The author, in his thoughtful analysis of post-war conflicts, asserts that the nature of war has changed in recent decades. Many thousands of US troops continue to equip and train for major conflicts. The emphasis remains on having large numbers of ‘boots on the ground’ to hold and control territory. But, he argues that, while major conflicts still have to be prepared for, ‘boots on the ground’ is long overdue replacement by a more adaptable and flexible strategy, aimed primarily at low intensity conflicts which threaten America’s key security interests. Wars of choice, such as favoured by George W Bush and Donald Rumsfeld post 9/11, should no longer feature in American foreign policy.

For this to work, a new strategic paradigm is required. The key development of recent years is the evolution of precision American air power which now plays the dominant role in today’s wars. However, conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East have continued to focus on having large numbers of troops on hand to ensure the occupation of territory, when, in fact, control of the air and sea should feature as more important. When equipped with a good strategic plan, the US has achieved its goals, as in NATO’s wars in the Balkans during the 1990s. But in other conflicts the West has failed to achieve goals because of poor planning and leadership, inadequate funding for reconstruction and the wrong paradigm.

The author advocates new weapons and tactics. He emphasises the vital importance of precision air power and doesn’t hide his disappointment that the US still focuses on ‘boots on the ground’. This, he asserts, is an outdated strategy, expensive and repetitive, with the US Army and Marines in particular misusing troops in a general failure of American strategy and diplomacy across the globe. The current President still appears to believe in ‘boots on the ground’. By contrast, air strategy now assumes far greater importance in the scheme of manoeuvre. It concentrates on the West’s overwhelming advantage in technology and it has achieved some remarkable success, while incurring very few losses to aircraft or aircrew, in recent conflicts.

The US should exploit its overwhelming lead in asymmetric air power. Air campaigns can combine the advantages of stand-off precision attack, ISR, drones, satellites, air mobility, special operations

Above: A KC-135 Stratotanker from the 100th Air Refueling Wing refuels an F-15E Strike Eagle from the 48th Fighter Wing on 12 November 2015, over the northern Mediterranean. Both wings worked together in support of counter-Isis operations in Iraq and Syria.Right: A-10 Thunderbolt IIs provided close-air support to ground troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both USAF.