Tag: aviation

United States Naval Aviation 1910-20

United States Naval Aviation 1910-20

purchase isotretinoin online Review Rejected by Amazon

If you have any interest at all in U.S. Naval Aviation, this is the book—in two volumes—that you should have. And I cannot stress this hard enough—IT IS FREE!

I am sick of charlatans reprinting U.S. Government publications—that you have already paid for with your tax dollars—taking the free pdfs from the government web sites and using print-on-demand to provide unsuspecting consumers with an ersatz product.

I wrote a review for the book spelling this out and it was rejected. I’ll have that review below, but this is the supporting information.

This is the hit page on Amazon for the search “United States Naval Aviation 1910-2010”:

I’ll refer to the entries, from left, as 1 through 5.

Let’s start with #2, with no image available. It is not available because this is (supposedly) the official Navy printed book. Its description says so (Publisher). Note its weight and that it is a hardcover. Both are correct for the book as published by the Navy. Note that none of the others are hardcover. The Navy NEVER PRINTED soft cover. The ONLY other OFFICIAL U.S. Government printed version is done by the Government Publishing Office (GPO).This is only available in soft cover and costs $94 for both volumes.

Under the Amazon listing for this hardcover version are just five offerings. One for a tick over $25 and the rest right around $250. I’m assuming that the higher priced versions are the actual official book. (Since those were only given to admirals and offices, wonder who is making bucks off these?) The $26.67 version peaked my interest, so I’ve ordered it, prepared to return it if it is not official. I’ll let you know what I find.

#1, 3, and 5 have reasonable prices, but as I noted they are neither hardbound nor official. Here they are in order. Note the publisher and page count of each. The original has nearly 1,300 pages.

Just so you know the source of all this information [and my upset], I was Lead Editor of Scholarly Publications at NHHC. This was my book from start to finish. I approved the book at every step from editing through production.

As far as Amazon’s other “publishers,” this is what is happening. Just like I am suggesting that you do, these parasites have downloaded the FREE pdfs from the official Navy web site at the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), the group that wrote, edited, and printed the original.

Once they have downloaded the files, they simply stick a cover on it (thus the different covers you see on the Amazon splash page) and post it for sale. When they get an order they send the pdf to their print-on-demand (POD) printer of choice and have them send you the book. You can do exactly the same thing. If you want to have one printed for yourself, you can save a lot of money by linking with your own POD printer.

What have they invested in this money-making scheme? Nothing except the time it takes to download the files, stick a cover on, and email the file to their printer. They are doing this for thousands of government publications that are in reality FREE to you, the taxpayer.

I did not discuss #4 because it is a Kindle edition. Neither the Navy nor GPO has published a Kindle version. But the process is only slightly different. In this case the “publisher” has paid (or done the work themselves) to have the pdfs converted. Once they get the Kindle file, it is readily duplicated and sent out as needed. Again, no real work or outlay on their part.

This is the background. Here is my rejected review:

There is one caveat to reprinting government publications: It is permissible provided you have written approval from the government agency that published the original and that you file for a new ISBN. No one ever contacted us about reprinting with the exception of GPO (who even have to follow the rules above). I further doubt they even know what an ISBN is.

I just remembered I never told you about the book… It is two volumes, the first written by Navy historian Mark L. Evans is a chronology of the century of Naval Aviation. It is thus the definitive Navy statement of what happened, when, and where. The second volume, by retired Navy historian Roy A. Grossnick, is titled “Statistics.” It includes virtually everything anyone would like to know about Navy air, from a complete breakdown of BuNos, to carrier and squadron deployments, to Navy aviators in space. Thus this, too, is the official Navy word on these topics.

Anyway, there you have it. The link to the FREE pages is embedded above. Please check it out if you like Navy aviation.

And so I have witnesses, this is what I ordered from Amazon for $26.67: a used, very good condition, former library book (why are they getting rid of such a substantial and current resource?). It is hardcover and printed by DON. Let’s see if it is the real thing.


70 Years On but Never Too Late

70 Years On but Never Too Late

how to buy gabapentin online Aircraft of the Fighting Powers, Volume IV

by H. J. Cooper, et al

Aircraft Technical Publication, 1943. 76 pages.

 

Frankly I don’t know how I missed this series.

I’ve been collecting aviation books for more than 50 years and this set got by me. And I am sorry it did.

There are seven books in the series, one for each year of World War II and 1946. My copy is from the original series (I have since acquired copies of all the originals and several reprints). The chapters of each consist of a 2- or 3-page aircraft biography and a 3-view drawing to 1/72nd scale. Those drawings are the heart and soul of the series. (Don’t let the low page count fool you. The drawings pages are not numbered. Many are two-page foldouts, and not a few are three-page.)

Frankly, I discovered this series after deciding I was paying Bob’s Aviation Documentary Services too much money for aircraft drawings. His catalog listed these books as the sources of a lot of his drawings. So I went to the source. I paid for the whole seven volumes less than I spent over six months with Bob.

Now, the caveats. The series is uneven in that the drawings improved over the seven years. The Vol. 7 drawings are definitely superior and more accurate than those of the earlier volumes. Also the accuracy of especially German and Japanese aircraft is suspect in the earlier volumes. But don’t let this put you off.

First these are pretty neat artifacts of Great Britain in the midst of a fight for its life. Look at the ads they contain, especially over the life of the series, and you get a micro-education on England at war.

Second, there are a lot of aircraft you’ll have a hard time tracking down. In this particular volume, some of the more unusual of the 76 aircraft covered include the Miles M-28 and Martinet I, three TGs, nine PTs, 11 ATs, Hall PH-3, Spartan NP-1, German DFS 230A-1, and Mitsubishi OB-01. If you are an aviation junkie as I am, you will be in hog heaven.

As noted, some of these are available in reprint if you want a pristine copy. Frankly I like the crap-shoot of used, especially if they come from England. I have yet to have received one that didn’t include some interesting “bonus” items buried among the pages such as photographs, cards, newspaper clippings, or notes by previous owners. The physical quality may leave a lot to be desired, but it all depends on what you are looking for.

Whether you opt for the originals or reprints, if you are unfamiliar with this series, it is time you became acquainted.

Reviewed November 2014

The “Best” . . . Because There is Not Much Out There . . .

The “Best” . . . Because There is Not Much Out There . . .

Martin Aircraft, 1909–1960

by John R. Breihan

Narkiewicz/Thompson, 1995. 208 pages.

 

This book is the definitive work on Martin aircraft. The shame of it is that there is only one to choose from and nothing to compare it to.

That said, the book is very good. Compared with other aviation company works, this touches all the bases. It involved significant research, which the author distilled into a very readable, yet still comprehensive presentation. It is well illustrated and cited.

My personal research concerns the MB/MBT series and I was looking to this to fill in some gaps. It provided a bit more detail, but was lacking in some of the information (and was opposed to) what I had found in the Library of Congress and National Archives.

All in all, despite its current high price, this is a good value and must-have for anyone interested in Martin aircraft.

Reviewed October 2013

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