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- Convair Advanced Designs: Secret Projects from San Diego, 1923-1962
Consolidated Vultee, which later became Convair, built some of the world's best flying boats in the 1930s, and the world's best bombers during World War II. Convair's six-engine B-36 strategic bomber was credited with keeping the world safe during the early throes of the Cold War. But before all these great aircraft took to the skies, scores of ideas and concepts were proposed and analyzed by company management to determine if production would even be feasible. Convair Advanced Designs is a book that brings these futuristic, but stillborn, concepts to life for the very first time. This book features many never-before-seen company photographs, models, and drawings of such futuristic concepts as a folding-rotor anti-submarine patrol bomber and a giant seaplane passenger transport launched from a high-speed rail car! Readers will also be fascinated to see how certain seemingly unbelievable designs evolved into actual production airplanes years later, such as the giant Convair Tradewind turboprop seaplane transport. The photos in this edition are black and white.
Pages: 184
Size: 8.5 X 11 (inches)
Format: Paperback
Illustrations: b/w with illustrations
Publisher: Specialty Press
ISBN: 9781580072182
Product Code: SP133P
Reviews
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Modeling Madness
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(Posted on 4/30/2010)"It is a book that I can quite easily provide my highest recommendation. I know you will not be disappointed."
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Air Classics
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(Posted on 4/30/2010)"As readers of this column know, Specialty Press has been cranking out some very high quality books on a wide variety of aviaiton subjects, but Convair Advanced Designs tackles a most interesting aviation niche - aircraft that were designed, but not built. Five stars."
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IPMS
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(Posted on 6/30/2010)"This book will be of interest to the modeler, aviation enthusiast/historian alike. I can recommend it to all that like the subject.
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Model Aircraft Monthly
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(Posted on 8/31/2010)"This book covers them all, many with highly detailed drawings. It's a real eye opener and should be of great interest to the 'what if' modeler."
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Internet Modeler
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(Posted on 8/31/2010)"Overall, this provides a very interesting examination into the evolution of an aviation manufacturer over several decades."
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Model Airplane International
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(Posted on 11/30/2010)"An extremely useful title for anyone interested in the 'what if?' side of Consolidated aircraft productions."
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Cat News (UK)
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(Posted on 9/30/2010)"...A real gem and essential reading for flying boat enthusiasts."
Robert Bradley
Robert Bradley enlisted in the USAAF immediately after World War II and served in the Communication Service. After leaving the Air Force he went on to attend the University of Southern California where he graduated in 1953 with a B.Sc. in Physics. After graduation he went to work for North American Aviation in El Segundo in the Systems and Tactics Group. He was there for four years prior to moving in 1957 to Convair Astronautics (later General Dynamics Space Systems Division) in San Diego where he remained until his retirement in 1993. He worked initially in Operations Analysis and in the Technical Information Center, both in Advanced Engineering. He then moved to the Economic Analysis Group, also in Advanced Engineering, until that group was transferred to the Contracts and Estimating Dept, where he became the Manager of Economic Analysis. After his retirement in 1993 he became a volunteer archivist at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, specializing in the Museum's space and missile collection and its Convair archives. Mr. Bradley has a long-standing interest in aerospace history, with special emphasis on design studies and proposals of projects that did not reach the hardware stage. He lives with his wife Linda in the Pacific Beach community of San Diego.