Featuring the obscure, the unusual, the unbuilt and the unseen. The secret is out - Secret Projects is back. This is a new title in this highly acclaimed series, this time looking at concepts developed by the US aircraft industry in the years immediately prior to and during World War 2. This book includes and describes the major fighter and bomber proposals form the American aircraft industry which embrace various fighter and interceptor concepts, medium, heavy and intercontinental bombers, attack aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft, both for the USAF and US Navy. Particular emphasis is placed on 'Circular Proposals' - a system of submitting designs against requirements circulated around the industry by the Army Air Force in the 1930s and early 1940s. The illustrations show drawings and photographs of unbuilt designs merged with the history and photographs of real aeroplanes. Very little has been published previously about American projects from this time period and much of the material will not have been seen widely before. it will therefore be fascinating reading for all lovers of the previously highly successful 'Secret Projects' series and aviation historians.

This brings the story of the U.S. airlifter from the early 1960s to today's transport giants and tomorrow's stealth assault aircraft; revealing numerous designs which never saw the light of day, examining the thinking behind them and giving insights into why they did, or did not, succeed. This untold story of aviation history also has a major bearing on the development of civil aviation. The book, and its companion volume, American Secret Projects 2, covers airlifter designs from WWII to the start of the 1960s, and has been made possible by the authors being given unprecedented access to major aerospace company archives, uncovering scores of design proposals which have never previously been revealed. As well as describing how airlifters were progressively developed to meet evermore demanding military transport requirements, the book looks at their other roles, from nuclear testbeds to Space Shuttle carriers. Describing over 100 unknown, or little known, designs, including all the competitors to the C-5 and entries for the Tri-Service V/STOL transport competition, the book has over 400 illustrations, the majority of which have never previously been published, detailing some of the largest and most incredible aircraft ever conceived.

This book charts the history of the US airlifter from its origins in World War II to today's transport giants. In doing so, it reveals and describes numerous designs which never saw the light of day, examining the thinking behind them and giving insights into why they did, or did not, succeed. In many ways, this untold story of aviation history reflects both the changing face of conflict and the exercise of geo-political power; it has also had a major bearing on the development of civil aviation. The book has been made possible by the authors being given unprecedented access to major aerospace company archives, uncovering scores of design proposals which have never previously been revealed. It is profusely illustrated, much in full color, with artwork and three-view drawings extracted from manufacturers' archives and with photographs of original project models. As well as describing how airlifters were progressively developed to meet ever-more demanding military transport requirements, the book looks at other roles for which they were adapted, from nuclear test-beds to Space Shuttle carriers. This previously untold story describes more than 200 unknown, or little known, designs, and contains more than 400 illustrations detailing some of the largest and most incredible aircraft ever conceived.

Five starred reviews! Mother-son team Jonah and Jeanette Winter bring to life one of the most secretive scientific projects in history—the creation of the atomic bomb—in this “astonishing…beautifully told” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) picture book. At a former boy’s school in the remote desert of New Mexico, the world’s greatest scientists have gathered to work on the “Gadget,” an invention so dangerous and classified they cannot even call it by its real name. They work hard, surrounded by top security and sworn to secrecy, until finally they take their creation far out into the desert to test it, and afterward the world will never be the same.

The Secret Projects series is now well established with both aviation historians and modelers. American Secret Projects: Bombers, Attack and Anti-Submarine Aircraft 19451974 describes the important area of post-World War 2 bomber development in the United States. During the period to the 1970s, the U.S Air Force operated several classes of bomber-heavy long-range types for strategic operations, medium bombers, and fighter bombers for interdiction and ground support. The U.S. Navy had its own series of attack aircraft and bombers for delivering nuclear weapons, while the antisubmarine aircraft was another area to be examined in considerable depth. As a superpower, America was also able to look at some of the more unusual approaches in the creative process, for example, bombers propelled by nuclear propulsion. Many of the aircraft that entered service or flew only as prototypes resulted from design competitions involving many other proposals that for one reason or another, never left the drawing board.

A large number of fighter projects have been drawn by British companies over the last fifty years, but very few have turned into hardware, and very little has been published about these fascinating "might-have-beens". This book makes extensive use of previously unpublished, primary-source material-much recently declassified. It gives an insight into a secret world where the public has had little idea of what was going on, while at the same time presenting a coherent nationwide picture of fighter development and evolution. Particular emphasis is placed on tender design competitions and some of the events that led to certain aircraft either being canceled or produced. Some of the many and varied types included are the Hawker P.1103/P.1136/P.1121 series, and the Fairey "Delta III". The book includes many illustrations, plus specially commissioned renditions of "might-have-been" types in contemporary markings.

Among the best-selling aviation titles of recent years have been Midland's Lutwaffe and British Secret Projects series. Soviet secret projects now come under the spotlight. This first volume covers bomber concepts from the various design bureaus from the 1940s onwards. Many unusual and sophisticated aircraft are featured in these pages, allowing comparisons between what the Soviets were working on and what was being produced in the West during that period.