Jun 062023
 

I put one copy of each of my current books on ebay. They’re all in brand-new condition, and will be signed/dated when sold. They also come with bonus 18X24-inch prints… the “SR-71” book has two prints of the SR-71, the “B-47/B-52” book has one B-47 diagram and two B-52 diagrams; “US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol. 1” has two B-70 Valkyrie diagrams. Take a look…

 

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (Origins and Evolution): Signed, with bonus prints

Boeing B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress: Signed, with bonus prints

US Supersonic Bomber Projects Volume 1:  Signed, with bonus prints

 

 Posted by at 11:36 pm
Dec 012022
 

Twenty copies of the new book have finally arrived, fortunately entirely intact. They took two days to cross an ocean, one day to cross half a continent… and two weeks to cross the customs office. Shrug.

Anyway, here’s what I’m gonna do: signed, numbered and dated copies will be $20 plus postage (media mail). These will come with two 18X24 prints, also signed and dated. If you would like to be on the list for one of these send me an email:

But the first five copies will be auctioned off, with the highest bids getting the lowest numbers. Additionally: numbers 3,4 and 5 will receive three 18X24 prints, while numbers 1 and 2 will receive four 18X24 prints, all signed, dated and numbered. If this sounds interesting to you, email me what your bid is. Bidding ends Sunday night, after which I’ll let bidders know. If there are more than five bidders, six and beyond won’t be held to their bids… but they won’t *necessarily* get the next numbers in line. Once the auction winners are processed, I’ll send out PayPal invoices for the regular copies, and they will be sent out based on the order of payment.

I also have ten “SR-71” copies and five “B-47/B-52” copies. The SR-71’s, singed and dated with two 18X24 prints, will go for $20; the B-47/52 signed and dated with three 18X24 prints, will go for $55 plus postage. If you would like one of these, let me know.

 Posted by at 11:12 pm
Nov 142022
 

A Boeing rendering of an advanced fighter from the late 70’s/early 80’s. This design features variable sweep wings and inlets mounted over the shoulders, reminiscent of the Boeing Model 818 design proposed in the early 1960s for the TFX program (won by General Dynamics, resulting in the F-111… check out “US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol 1” for more on that). There are four weapons mounted conformally to the underside. All in all it looks like an early attempt at a *somewhat* stealthy aircraft… not true stealth, but a substantial reduction in radar return, specifically from ground-based radar. This would seem to indicate that the aircraft was intended to generally fly low and to serve in a strike capacity.

The configuration is broadly conventional, apart from the inlets. The twin exhaust nozzles are 2D vectorable, reducing IR signature and increasing agility and short field takeoff performance. The twin tails are canted outboard, probably to knock out the “corner reflector” problem for radar returns. This was likely intended to be something of a replacement for the F-111 rather than the next air dominance fighter like the F-15.

The full rez scan has been uploaded into the 2022-11 APR Extras folder on Dropbox for $4 and up Patrons/Subscribers.

 

 

 Posted by at 11:11 pm
Oct 152022
 

Photos of a physical copy, fresh from the printer, somewhere in the wilds of Britain. UK/EU buyers should start receiving them shortly, I’d imagine.

The ordering link straight from the publisher:

US Supersonic Bomber Projects

And the updated Amazon link:

US Supersonic Bomber Projects Paperback – December 23, 2022

As previously mentioned, if you are interested in a signed, dated and bonus-print copy, let me know so I know how many to order.

 Posted by at 2:32 pm
Oct 042022
 

My third book, “US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol 1” is, as I understand it, somewhere between “being printed” and “being shipped.” I am thus hard at work on Volume 2. I had hoped to also do a Volume 3, but that is unlikely: Volume 3 would be “Space Bombers.” However, apparently the market for “space” is nothing like what it is for “aviation,” so the idea has been nixed. There is official interest in several other works I’ve planned, so properly published books seem likely to continue for some time.

That said: while the market for “space” is less than the market for “aviation,” my own interest in the two is about equal. And I would be happy to sell works at a number substantially lower than a professional, proper publisher would. A publisher would have books on bookstore or grocery store shelves, while I would only sell from my little website.  And if I’m not incredibly stupid about it (no guarantee of that, of course), a self-published book would, theoretically, bring in more on a per-book basis than one done through a publisher. So I’m contemplating something like a Kickstarter for “Space Bombers.”

As currently laid out, this book would be almost overwhelmingly “The Book Of Dyna Soar,” as the bulk of (available) American space-based bombardment studies revolved around that program. However, it would extend well beyond Dyna Soar, including Orion and other strategic orbital weapons systems studied back in the sixties, on up through much more recent studies including aerospaceplanes and bombers based on the X-33/Venturestar/RLV studies. Being self published I would not be locked into a set page count and, perhaps, could include foldouts and perhaps more color art (depending on funding). This could be released as both an Ebook and a softcover… and, depending on length, a hardback. Other “extras” could include 18X24 or 24X36 prints of diagrams, perhaps on something like mylar.

I am *far* from setting up a Kickstarter for this. I’ve seen a lot of people get *really* mad about funding this or that project and then watching it slip far behind schedule, so I wouldn’t even start a crowdfunding campaign until it was substantially complete. There are a number of topic areas that I really want to delve into more deeply via FOIA and whatnot, a process that has become far more troublesome in recent years. At this point it’s in the “this is an idea to think about” stage. But I am interested in any input on the subject… thoughts on crowdfunding, ideas about subjects to add and, as always, input of documentation on the topic that you might have that you think I may not.

 Posted by at 9:59 pm
Sep 222022
 

It’s my understanding that my next bookazine should be printed within a week or so. So I think I can post a few teaser images (screenshotted from the penultimate digital proof) to get the idea across (if you don’t see images below, it’s probably because either your adblocker is overly enthusiastic or the APR website is blocked for some reason):

If you would like to order a copy, there are three main routes:

1) For those in Europe, by far the best approach will likely be by ordering directly through Mortons, link HERE, or on bookstore shelves.

2) For those in the US, the less expensive approach will *probably* be through Amazon (link HERE, though still preliminary), though probably taking longer than directly from Mortons, and the possibility of finding them on bookstore shelves.

3) For those who want the Extra Special Edition and say “damn the schedule and never mind the cost,” I will *probably* have a few signed copies available. As with my prior two books, these will have an additional pair of 18X24-inch prints of diagrams from the book. These will *probably* run about $25, including shipping to the US (if you want them shipped out of the US, the shipping prices gets ludicrous… don’t blame me). They’ll be signed and dated and numbered in order of receipts. If you would be interested in this version, send me an email so I can make sure I have enough on hand for that. My email:

 

 

 Posted by at 8:32 pm
Aug 262022
 

Mortons has announced my “Book 3,” They list it as available September 30… but I would expect it to come out a bit later than that. Well before Christmas, though.

US Supersonic Bomber Projects

This is Volume 1. I’m hard at work on Volume 2. A Volume 3 is *possible,* though uncertain just yet. Volume 1 covers the evolution of and derivative designs from the “official” bomber programs… B-58, B-59, B-68, B-70. B-1, A-5 and F-111. This covers, where possible, designs that competed for the contract. As with all my works, this is heavily illustrated with line diagrams, as accurate as I can make them.

This will eventually also be available through Amazon. THIS appears to be a placeholder for the listing. When released, it should be available directly through Mortons first, but for US buyers Amazon will have lower shipping cost.

 

 

 Posted by at 1:24 am