[jim]

Hello everyone, I have just found 4 old books stored in a room in old shut down factory. The books are called Hutchinsons Pictorial history of the war. Period Dec 20th 1939 to April 9th 1940. THese books are an absolute treasure trove of Photos and descriptions of aircraft tanks ships infantry artillary etc,and just about everything you could think of military. The photos in the books I have never seen published anywhere before. I wish I could pass on to you all the wealth of information contained within. I am spell bound . One photo has me mystified however. It is of an American aircraft. The description is as follows. Released for the Allies by the US, the Skyrocket is a pursuit plane reputed to be the fastest in the world with a top speed of 450 mph. This is a nice piece of classic propaganda of the time but the aircraft shown I cannot put a name to so it is time for our experts to offer a name .It looks like something from the Beechcraft stable. Twin engined,It has twin rudders. The rudders are not oval but almost oblong. The strange part is the wing.It is attached to the nose of the aircraft ahead of the cockpit.It looks almost as if the fuselage nose is embedded into the wing, the leading edge of the wing runs continues from port engine to the starboard one. The canopy sits quite high on the shortish fuselage and is a single seat almost all round glazed. The engines look like PWs mounted in bulbous pods. Does this ring any bells with anyone. Just to expand a little on the contents, The photos show Swordfish on the Ark ,in the hangers, Also swordfish seaplanes being winched out from various battleships. Very early Me110 Me109s He111s Do17s. Plus French fighters etc. Also photos taken under fire in France but also of the Fighting in Finland against the Russians. For the Armoured vehicle buffs amongst us there are 100s of photos of early war Tanks fighting vehicles of ever sort imaginable.Some amazing shots of just about every piece of artillary you can think of. there are shots taken from the German side showing their troops manning the Siegfreid line. Intersting to look at their equipment and uniforms. All this and I am only just halfway through the first book of 4. Sorry if this is boring but i just wish there was some way you could all see this stuff, As you can tell I have got quite carried away with excitement. Just amazing photos of Defiants Battles. Sunderland flying boats being made etc .The Spitfires and Hurricanes are twin props !!!! I am going to ask a friend of mine if some of these photos can be lifted and then maybe shown on the forum. I dont know if its possible but I will try. Thats all for now chaps ,it looks like I will be burning the midnight oil.

[SKUNKY]

....any nudie books in that old factory by chance, Jim?

[jim]

Well actually there was a bunch of magazines that had the biggest !!!!!!!!!!

[SKUNKY]

YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH?????..

[bsmith13]

Ah, the Grumman XF5F Skyrocket, trusty steed of Blackhawk! Does this page depict the aircraft you are describing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF5F_Skyrocket

[parsig9]

Originally Posted by jim

Well actually there was a bunch of magazines that had the biggest !!!!!!!!!!

JUGS?!

[STARMAN 352ND]

Originally Posted by parsig9

JUGS?!

Guy's let keep it to the subject to aircraft books.
Jim you have to watch what words you use with these guys.
JP

[jim]

I thought he meant P47s

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

Guy's let keep it to the subject to aircraft books.
Jim you have to watch what words you use with these guys.
JP

[jim]

Well done my friend ,yes indeed thats the one. So much for it being released to the Allies! At the moment I am playing around trying to take photos of some of the pages in these books so I can post them on the hanger.there are lots pf photos of shiny new Swordfish and Defiants. Quote.The Defiants are hailed as the ultimate fighter and cannot be beaten by anything flying in the world at the moment.unquote. The photos are of course black and white but it is possible to see the paint schemes, so that is of further interest.Have any of you chaps any experience of copying photos from a book. I am having trouble getting a sharp image at the moment .

Originally Posted by bsmith13

Ah, the Grumman XF5F Skyrocket, trusty steed of Blackhawk! Does this page depict the aircraft you are describing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF5F_Skyrocket

[bsmith13]

I don't have any experience copying photos from a book, but I look forward to whatever you can post. That book sounds fascinating!