Books You Might Be Looking For?

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Originally Posted by dpolglaze

Jan,

Noffsinger is very nice as a reference. It doesn't often sell for much less than $50. If you want some of the information, there was a first edition printed in 1987. It has fewer entries, but still quite a few, and I saw a copy for under $20 not too long ago.

Dan

Hey Dan, as I read through previous posts it occurs to me that you must have "The Mother Of All" WW1 Aviation Libraries. May I ask, are you one of the historian/authors here also? Man, I'd love to see your book list!

I've had a few odds and ends books that followed me forward since childhood, but really started collecting a half dozen years ago when I realized what ebay was all about.

The second or third book I ever read on the subject was Quentin Reynold's oh-so-fun "They Fought For The Sky". What left a real impression though, is his forward, when he tells the story of poking around a noted bookshop in NYC and finding a dust covered shelf down near the floor marked "World War One Flying". I never forgot that tale and through the years, whenever I would stumble on a used book store in my travels the idea would flash "Maybe, just maybe"....! I think that at one point I had virtually memorized the bibliography from Reynold's book, ha ha. So, even now, with tough times, little money and a struggling restaurant, I still make time to comb the ebay listings. I just ike to know what's out there!

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Now This Is Just fascinating!



1: Aviation archive on Fowler Flap

Title: Archive of letters, documents, blueprints, photographs and other material relating to Harlan D. Fowler and his invention of the Fowler flap
Author: Fowler, Harlan D.
Description: Archive comprised of hundreds of letters, offprints, blueprints, patent documents, wind tunnel tests, photographs and other material, described below. The archive fills a box measuring 12x9½x10".Important archive of primary source material relating to the development and marketing of one of the key contributions to aeronautic design and flight. The Fowler flap, invented around 1924 by Harlan Fowler, a young aeronautical engineer who worked for the U.S. Army Air Corps, is a flap normally forming a part of the trailing edge of an airplane wing, capable of being moved backward and rotated downward in order to increase lift through increased camber and wing area. It enables greater lift at low speeds, while not hindering performance at high speeds. The material in the archive, dated from around 1915 to 1940, traces his early aeronautical studies, development and refinement of the flap, his efforts at marketing the innovation, and finally the drawn out defense of his patents from others, as well as his fight against litigation for his own alleged patent infringement. The archive includes, but is not limited to: Six-page pencil ms. by Fowler, on translucent paper, titled "The Fowler Wing," giving an overview of the wing design and operation, and its advantages: "Have you ever thought of the powerful advantage the birds of the air possess by their ability to expand or contract their wing spread and to alter the curvature of the feathered ribs? …Man has conquered the air, an achievement, perhaps, of far greater consequence than any invention produced by him…" The airplane, as we know it today, is probably in principle correct"…" But the demand of progress in carrying larger loads and to obtain higher cruising speeds is leading towards two serious factors. Increased power, representing an uneconomic development, and high stalling speed, representing an unsound safety development"…" The development and perfection of the Fowler Variable Area Wing presents a very sound and practical solution"…"" * U.S. War Department "Full-Flight Report on trail of Model Vought Advanced Training Aircraft (P-23)," 1918, with 11 blueprint leaves of the typed report, 2 blueprint graphs, and 2 original photographs of the plane. * Notebook containing inserted typed excerpts on such subjects as "The Lift of a Wing. Locating the Center of Lift in a biplane"

This is slightly after The Great War, but still very interesting.

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This is nice too... GDP 14.99

WWI German Aviation DOUBLE-DECKER C.666 Heydemarck FFA
The classic memoirs of a German Air Force officer during World War I recounting his time engaged in reconnaissance and bombing over the French lines. Haupt. Georg Wilhelm Heydemarck served as an observer with Feldflieger-Abteilung (FFA) 17 from January 1916 to December 1916 on the Western Front, before being transferred to FA 30 in Macedonia.

This is a very thorough auction listing, with lots of scans of pages and pictures, including scans of the advertisements for other early aviation books

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This is a pretty good deal if the bidding stays low... $10


AERO WW1 JOURNAL, LOT OF 8, NR!
AERO W.W.1 THE JOURNAL OF THE EARLY AEROPLANE, LOT OF 8 MAGAZINES ISSUES95, 100, 116, 118, 129, 141, 142, 153. The Journal of the Early Aeroplane. First published in 1968. Specialises in flying machines of the period 1900-1919, with the emphasis on WW1. A4 size publication with 106 pages each issue, illustrated with b+w photos and line drawings. Full of original material on aircraft, engines, personalities, book reviews, kit reviews etc. Articles are in-depth and often appear in several installments. Edited by Leonard E. Opdycke.

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I just came back from a trip to Canada and noticed several books in the stores that I had never seen before about WW1 aviation. A couple of them were by Billy Bishop's son, and while my girlfriend shopped I flipped through one of them about Canada's Air Hero's, and noticed a dozen mistaken claims right away. Like father like son they say!

Bulldog 90

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Here's what appears to be a very nice first edition of Elliott White Springs' best seller... $14.00

WAR BIRDS Diary of an Unknown Airman WWI HC 1stVG-Clean
WAR BIRDS Diary of an Unknown Airman Edited by a fellow airman Srings, John McGavock Grider was the airman, one of 200 university students who volunteered and joined the French early in the war. George Doran Co. NY 1926 illustrated by Clayton Knight 277 pages with 11 beautiful illustrations.

CONDITION: 6"x9.5" Blue hardcover with gilt wings is VERY GOOD- with light This wear confined to the boards which are square and tight; Pages are VERY GOOD Clean & Fresh NO Smells, NO Writeins or Foxing, one page wrough opened. Your SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. This is NOT an EX-LIBRARY Book.

This one is a real classic. If you haven't read Warbirds yet, this book is awfully fun. The description the seller offers, however, is wrong. It's the story of American Volunteers who served with the British, not the French. Springs has a real breezy wiseacre style that can't help but put a smile on your face. Plus, in my opinion, the Clayton Knight illustrations are worth the price alone.

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Hey! Here's another copy with a better price (and more accurate description)!

War Birds Classic WWI Aviation Book
War Birds Classic WWI Aviation Book - eBay (item 150292309524 end time Sep-14-08 18:33:44 PDT)
War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator, Springs/MacGrider, 1926. Grosset & Dunlap edition. Clayton Knight illus, HB,. 277 p., Good cond. WWI US Air Service pilot diary of MacGrider as published by squadron mate Elliot White Springs (a US ace who came from the family that owned Springmaid mills/sheets - he is responsible for those "racy" ads during the 1950s for their sheets). The material was published serially in Liberty Magazine before it was privately printed by Springs in book form. This edition followed the Doran (oversized) printing. This edition has a forward by Elliot White Springs dated July 1927 that is not in the Doran edition published during 1926 (Grosset & Dunlap is/was a “Reprint House”). This is a classic book on WW1 aviation experiences by US pilots flying with the RFC/RAF and then in a US Aero Squadron. The illustrations by Clayton Knight (also a WWI aviator) are considered classics of the era also. Buyer pays shipping.

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At $24.99 it's outside my budget, but it does looks interesting...

STEPCHILD PILOT/JOSEPH DOERFLINGER/1ST PRINTING/HC,DJ
(Tyler TX: The Robert R. Longo Company, Inc., 1959), octavo, blue cloth in pictorial dust jacket. (xii), 191pp. First Edition. Doerflinger was in the trenches for three years before transfer to German aviation in December, 1917, where he served as a fighter pilot with JASTA 10 and JASTA 64. With an account of commercial aviation in the post war period in the U.S. and France. Illustrated with photograph and line drawings. A fine copy, jacket not price-clipped. Out of Print.

Can any of you esteemed forumites comment on the quality of this book? Thanks.

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Not specifically WW1, but there are some articles included. I have a copy of this and found it quite interesting; it's published by the U.S. Gov't Printing Office. It's listed at the very good starting bid of $2.99. If nobody else bids it'll be a real bargain at this price!

Air War Warfare & Base Defense Combat Aviation WW1 WW2
From the earliest development of combat aviation, the security and continued operating efficiency of established bases guaranteed the successful application of air power in modern military campaigns. The factors affecting this security are many and varied. They are explored in detail in this collection of studies drawn from American and foreign experience dating from World War I to the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1973.

Hardcover book, 407 pages, book & pages are in very good condition, dust jacket has a large tear to the back cover.

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And one I never heard of before. The bidding starts at $19.99 for this one.

Ben Ray Redman Down in Flames WWI Aviation
Down in Flames, by Ben Ray Redman, published in 1930 by Payson and Clarke. 1st edition. Ten stories about fliers in the British Royal Flying Corps during World War I. Redman flew with the British as a pilot during WWI. Hardback book in very good condition; very slight wear, top and bottom of spine. Interior contents clean and tight. No dust jacket. Book protected by stiff plastic sheet (thus the reflections in the photo). See my other military and aviation listings!

I'm not sure whether this is fiction or nonfiction. Again, do any of you knowledgeable people here know anything about this volume?

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To us poor people, this is a tease...

3049: HALL & NORDHOFF. LAFAYETTE FLYING CORPS.
THE FIRST AND BEST KNOWN HISTORY OF AVIATIONS MOST FAMOUS FLYING CORPS. AN ASSOCIATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE MAN WHO FOUNDED AND NAMED THE CORPS TO THE FRENCH SENATOR WHOSE SUPPORT LED TO ITS FORMATION. BOSTON 1920 2 VOLUMES THICK 8vo BLUE CLOTH, OVERALL FINE SET. IMPORTANT ASSOCIATION COPY INSCRIBED BY ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE, EDMUND GROS. IMPORTANT SET.

Oh man, how I'd like to own this. It is inscribed and signed by Edmund Gros!