American Secret Projects: Fighters, Bombers, and Attack Aircraft, 1937-1945

Excellent! This book must cover every USAAF and Navy plane that was ever conceived during the period investigated (1937 - 1945). The book covers USAAF single and twin engined fighters, light and medium bombers, heavy bombers, attack planes, US Navy fighters, attack aircraft, and maritime patrol aircraft and patrol bombers both land-based and flying boats.The book does mention the main aircraft that were produced during WW II, but there is a reason for it. Aircraft such as the P-47, P-51, B-17, B-24, B-29, F4F, F6F, SBD, and PBY did not just pop up from nowhere. They evolved from a combination of previous production models, prototypes that didn't make it into production, and paper concept studies that didn't go anywhere. I disagree with other reviewers who claim that the book devotes too much space to models that were produced and for which much more detailed information is readily available in a multitude of other books. Very little text is devoted to those models -- just enough to put them in their proper perspective with regard to their direct and indirect antecedents. This book provides information on paper concept studies that I have not seen elsewhere, as well as information on prototypes that did not result in production. In many cases, the information on the paper concept studies is pretty sparse. The authors acknowledge that quite often, the only information they could find was in the form of the project brochures the various manufacturers submitted to the Army and Navy for evaluation. The project brochures frequently only contained the bare minimum information such as concept three-view drawings and dimensions, weights, engine horsepower, and maybe the manufacturers' estimated performance parameters. In many cases the design calculations and the Army or Navy critiques and evaluation reports were lost or haven't been found yet.All told, I thought the book was an excellent presentation of concept developments of the WW II era and how those developments led to the airplanes that were actually produced, many of which achieved fame or in some cases infamy.

Much has been written about American prototype combat aircraft of WW2 that never made it into production, including Gerald Balzer's "American Secret Pusher Fighters" and William Norton's "U.S. Experimental & Prototype Aircraft Projects: Fighters 1939-1945", but also Ray Wagner's "American Combat Planes". However, the Arsenal of Democracy in WW2 yielded a number of combat plane projects that never received military designations and have been hidden from view for over 70 years.Tony Buttler makes use of project documents to expose previously unknown US warplane projects of WW2 in a published work for the first time. A number of unbuilt projects have been covered in previous books on military aviation, including Boeing proposals for the B-36 competition, Convair designs for tailless aircraft, and numerous designs submitted to the R40-C competition, but Buttler's work reveals for the first time unbuilt fighter and bomber designs that were envisaged by Martin, Northrop, Vought, Grumman, Boeing, Douglas, Ryan, and McDonnell throughout the war. Of important note is the fact that the designation XB-31 was actually used for the Douglas Model 332 and not the Model 423, judging from the fact that the Model 423 was envisaged long after the B-29 Superfortress and B-32 Dominator were declared the winners of the R-40B competition.

I disagree completely with "Wolf". Yes, the prototypes of production aircraft are here, as are experimentals that were actually built, many of which did appear in Lloyd Jones' books. But to say that those make up 60% of this book's content is way off the mark. There are dozens and dozens of designs here that never made it off the drawing board and never got "B" or "P" designations.The book is logically divided up, covering Army fighters, bombers and attack aircraft, followed by Navy fighters, bombers and flying boats, plus a few oddballs that don't fit in any category. There are a number of designs I was familiar with, but many more that I've never seen before, such as the Convair tailless bomber shown on the cover.If I can throw one criticism at the book, it is that the cream color used as background for the project drawings, combined with the light line weight used, makes the drawings a bit more difficult to see than should be. This book must be read under a strong reading lamp. And a few interesting types are not illustrated at all, such as the Lockheed XB-30 and Douglas XB-31.

This book is an excellent reference to a very neglected subject. Yes Curtiss and Wright were already well established in 1908. Yet...America had no real aviation industry at that time. Backyard inventors, and independent companies made great designs for air racing(example-GeeBee Series). And some record breaking one-of-a-kind airplanes (Douglas World Cruiser). Other machines however, were flops! The Barling bomber was a flying lemon & some borrowed designs from Europe like the DH-4 would nose over on landings.On the other side, the Curtiss XP-23 dive bomber & Grumman's XFF-1 Naval Fighter were outstanding prototypes.This is the 1st book I have seen in along time showcasing any early American X-Planes. And not since Peter Bowers 2 volume series which was published in the early 1970's. Mr. Darling's 2 volume set on X&Y planes is O.K....but it needed more profile photo's and it had no 3-view drawings.I can't wait for Volume 2 of this great series! Great book!

Another excellent edition to Butlers secret projects series. Some minor quibbles: it is never made clear on the title pages inside the book what exactly is the aircraft depicted on the excellent front cover of the book (I assume it is the tailless maritime patrol bomber listed later) and referring to the lockeed hudson as being developed from the twin electric aircraft (Electra?) and other minor typos.

A nice subject and lots of info. But lacks a bit of depth ( maybe there is no more to know ?). Sometimes pictures and text is a bit difficult to connect as the appear on different pages. But I like the subject and can recommend it. Fits in fine with the rest of the "**fill in land*** Secret Projects" books.

Most of the information, if not all, has been available for years from the Putnam range for one, l suppose they where secret back in the time buta lot in the book became mainstream! Best bit is the Dust Cover illustration

Very interesting book by established author in this particular genre. Reasonable second hand price as well, which is a rarity for the Secret Project series, whose prices are normally ramped up massively by booksellers.

Another fascinating aviation book.Quite an eye opener,especially when compared to what the Nazis were researching.Modellers that like to scratch build unusual subjects will find inspiration in this book.