Weird & Wonderful Aircraft

By Ole Steen Hansen

Book Overview

Throughout the history of flight, new ideas in aircraft design have resulted in both resounding success stories and spectacular failures. Kids will be spellbound by flying cars, aircraft powered by people, and the unusual designs created in the search for more speed. Topics include: - the first monoplanes to fly a mile - the extremely successful vertical take-off Harrier - the unsuccessful parasite fighter XF-85 Goblin - millionaire Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose - the speedy bomber jet XB-70 Valkyrie - the German oddities Horten IV and VI gliders - plane identification guide

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778712265
• ISBN13: 9780778712268
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Crabtree Classics
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 7.6" x 11.1"
• Age Range: 8 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 6

Customer Reviews

A Young Reader's Introduction to Oddball Aircraft!

Aviation has produced its share of innovative, odddball and strictly dead-on-delivery aircraft designs. This volume, part of THE STORY OF FLIGHT series, introduces readers 9-12 years to some of those designs. Like others in the series, it features dramatic artwork and concise yet insightful text that - hopefully - might spark the interest of a young reader in its subject. Within its 32 pages, WEIRD & WONDERFUL AIRCRAFT takes a chronological look at various designs - multiplanes, flying hybrids, VTOL birds, canards and so on. Text, photographs and artwork illustrate aircraft like the nine-winged(!) Caproni Ca-60, the Luftwaffe's asymetrical BV 141, Howard Hughes' HK-1, the McDonell Goblin, the XB-70, the man-powered Gossamer Albatros and Burt Rutan's innovative designs. As with other books in the series, the quality of the artwork varies. Some is quite well-done, dramatic and fairly accurate. Some artwork is less so. (Various artists' work is used in the books). In short, WEIRD & WONDERFUL AIRCRAFT is an appealing, nicely-illustrated and easy-to-understand introduction to some "interesting" aircraft. Not all the birds in this book set the world on fire but they do make for interesting reading. Recommended for the 9-12 age group.