Flying With World War One Fighter Aces

[Pips]

So is that what happened to McCudden, a victim of a simple engine failure and subsequent stall?

"he took off, went into a steep climbing turn, had some kind of engine malfunction, clipped some trees and plunged into a wood at the edge of the airfield".

Is that borne out by eyewitnesses present? And not from hearsay?

[Barrett]

That sounds like a classic departure stall: climbing out, low airspeed aggravated by engine failure.

The school solution is to level the wings, nose down to maintain speed and look for a place to set down (presumably having selected such a spot before takeoff.)

Generally it's considered preferable to put the machine into the trees rather than incur the stall-spin option trying to continue the turn. But in this case, we just don't know enough details.

[Albert Ball]

Seems like a good book, i'm going on a book shopping spree soon so i may just order myself a copy.

[alex_revell]

For anyone interested in the book Richthofen Jagdstafeln Ahead by Peter McManus. I still haven't had time to read my copy properly - we have the decorators in and I'm sure you all know how disruptive that can be! However what I've seen of the book so far, it's riddled with errors. Most obvious: three of the photographs are duplicated, with different captions and a colour rendition of the Voss Albatros is captioned as being Wolff's aeroplane. In other words the usual Grub St careless mish mash. I had occasion to talk to the author last night on a totally different matter - the mysterious Douglas Whetton - but he brought up the subject of Grub St as a publisher. He is extremely bitter and angry about the way he has been treated by them. His experience echoes that of Barry Diggins with September Evening. McManus told me that he had found over forty of what he described as 'ludicrous errors' in the first proofs. Despite being advised of these, Grub St did not correct them. Good and important photographs had also not been included, plus a section on armament. The whole book, in his words 'had been completely changed and messed about.' His telephone calls to Grub St, in an attempt to talk to the editor, all went unanswered, as had requests to call him back. An experience Diggins also had. McManus is very angry about the the final book. As he said to me: 'It's my name on the cover. People will blame me'. He has written three other books - On motor cycles, Scotland, and antique guns - is 85 years old and has had some experience with publishers, so he's no novice.

[jastaflieger]

I always treat what Mr Revell says here on the aerodrome with great respect and so i was somewhat relieved to see this recent post of his. And i want to first of all say to Mr McManus that i am very glad he put this book together:: however i have been reading it for the last three days and i have been disappointed in the book.
And i believe that it may well be in the editorial aspect of the book: by that i mean , it seems to jump from one topic to the next without making alot of sense- and there is not nearly enough of the original diary entries to read: perhaps these were taken out of the book?
I have just finished the chapter on McScotch, and i think it is the best chapter so far, and gives an idea of what the book's potential was-- so it seems that the writer has unfortunately been mis-represented as it is his name on the book, but sounds as if the book "was stolen" from him.
In contrast i finished War Dairy of a Night Bomber Pilot last month and i can highly recommend that book, i really enjoyed it: it came from Pen and Sword, so perhaps much of the difference is in the publisher?
Does this explain why it appears that Mr mc Manus's next book is from pen and sword?
One last thing, i was rather hoping for more artwork in RJ Ahead, did the artwork get pulled by the publisher?
Jim

[Kirk R. Lowry]

Originally Posted by alex_revell

The whole book, in his words 'had been completely changed and messed about.'

Bonjour Alex

It is quite disturbing to read of the tribulations endured by Peter McManus.

I recently received a book waited for with anticipation, MiGs Over North Vietnam, a subject of great personal interest and one about which little has been printed, by Roger Boniface. The book is published by Hikoki Publications, which is now owned by Crecy publishers, and has excellent production values; interesting photographs reproduced well, excellent artwork in quantity, but ... The text is replete with errors and while some are factual the majority are grammatical and stylistic.

On most every page of the book one will find a l where should be a 1, or errors of tense in a single sentence, or a fact stated and repeated in a single paragraph ... on and on run the mistakes. While reading I initially cast blame upon the author but later wondered if it could be so ... the author travelled to Vietnam and forged relationships and conducted interviews with airmen having had to arrange with government bodies for access to information and rights to publish photographs ... I cannot believe that someone would expend such effort and dedicate such passion and then produce a manuscript filled with basic errors. Reading of the experience endured by McManus (and recalling episodes described by your self) I believe that Boniface was betrayed by the publisher.

Simply put one does not spend £29.95 on a book and overlook an error filled text!

I would have proof read the text prior to publication for free!

I feel for Peter McManus ... "It's my name on the cover".

Frankly I do not understand the contradiction: why would a publisher printing specialist texts not make the effort to satisfy dedicated authors and readers?

Thank You For The Comments Alex
Kirk

[alex_revell]

Kirk,
The problem is that so many publishers these days do not have copy editing and then proof reading done. The book reviews in the Times are full of comments that such and such a book should have been copy edited and then proof read, pointing out such fundamental errors as people's names being wrongly spelt - even varying from one mention to the next - dates being wrong etc etc - all things that a good copy editor, and then proof reader, would pick up. The same goes for grammatical and spelling mistakes - which of course we all make. Again, that's what copy editors and proof readers are for. Re your author Boniface, I'm sure you're right, those errors should have been picked up. But don't forget that excellent researchers are not necessarily good writers of English. Also, when writing a long book it's easy to get punch drunk and write something which would be picked up by a good editor. I read in a recent book something on the lines of 'by this time he had been almost in the squadron for a month.' What was meant was that he had been in the squadron for almost a month. Easily done and just as easily corrected. Some publishers insist on the author doing the proof reading to save on costs. This is extremely dangerous, as I know to my own cost with Schiffer. One sees what one thinks is there. The reason publishers dispense with CEs and PRs? Easy. More profit. Pure greed. We all know that this will rebound on them in the long run, but they simply don't care. They are not interested in producing good, accurate books, only in the profit factor. Please don't ever offer to proof read anything for free. That just encourages the buggers. I'm very much afraid that the days of the old 'gentleman publishers' are probably over. Luckily for my wife and I, there are a few exceptions. I say luckily because we copy edit and proof read for some of the exceptions. What I can never understand about publishers is the fantastically high discounts - on all types of books - they give to the bookshops. This enables them (the bookshops)to sell the books at a discount on the published, cover price. This helps sell the books - the buyer reckons he is getting a bargain. But this system hurts the author in respect of his royalties, which are based on that discount price, and eats into the publisher's profits as well. The amount of additional books sold does not compensate for the drop in the royalty.The only one who makes a decent profit is the bookseller. The author comes last. So we have a situation that resembles vanity publishing. Authors who are willing to work for nothing in order to see their work published. Which is strange when you think of it. No authors, means no publishers, no publishers means no books, means no bookshops. It's the authors that should really call the shots.
Many thanks for your comments.
Regards
Alex

[Bulldog90]

A friend of mine who works in publishing told me recently that the pressure to get books out, not to get books right. That combined with the fact that almost all of the works are printed in Asia by people who do not understand the language, leads to a lot of errors. Fact checking and copy editing she told me is all on the authors shoulders.

As for the way bad facts continue to be retold again and again, I just reread one of my favorites, Jon Guttman's Osprey book on The Cigognes and Groupe de Combat 12. He mentions that the French ace Alfred Auger was mortally wounded in his last combat, but managed to bring his plane down intact. When French soldiers approached the aircraft they found Auger dead in the cockpit, and that he had flown his final mission wrapped in the national flag.

Its a great story, but I think an apocryphal one. Maybe some of these tales are too hard to resist and are reprinted again and again because the author thinks 'Well, its too late to disprove it"...

Bulldog 90

[alex_revell]

Bulldog,
Yes, I'm afraid that your friend typifies the problem. What is the point of getting books out before getting them right. Surely this defeats the whole object of books as a source of information and interest. Why the hurry. There's no race. I fail to understand this attitude.
Yes, a great number of books are printed in Asia, but that is no excuse. Books are no longer hand set by typesetters. They are done from computer discs, supplied by the authors or publishers. Anyway, why would an organisation pay good money for someone to do a sub-standard job. It would only reflect on their reputation as a publisher of worthwhile, buyable books.
A good copy editor, if she suspects a fact is not correct, always checks with the author, especially if it is an esoteric subject with which she is either not familiar or has not a relative reference book on the subject. To leave everything to the author is just a way to cut costs, regardless of the consequences to the finished project. I'm afraid that in many respects we live in age of mediocrity, and low standards, hence this attitude.
Unfortunately, incorrect statements - I don't know how a fact can be 'bad' - are accepted as gospel, once they are in print. Who was it once said that if the myth is more interesting than the truth, print the myth.

[Ace McCudden]

This is a fascinating and timely thread, I had the book in question on my long term 'to buy' list.
The attitude by some publishers is astounding, I regard World War I historians,authors and enthusiasts as the most discerning and intelligent bunch in all aviation, and it is a shame that Grub Street and others don't appear to always acknowledge this.