Soviet X-Planes

I wanted to like this book. I was seduced by the S-37/47 Berkut on the cover, and imagined the book to be filled with exotic designs that marveled the mind and that each would have a fascinating story to tell about the hows and whys and why nots. There is that, once you seperate the fascinating from the not. This book is full. I mean so full that it becomes repetitive and monotonous and I am an aviation enthusiast. The level of detail is impressive, with design ranging from the creative to the absurd. In compiling this level of detail, the authors are to be commended. But I feel that the book would have been so much better had the book focused on 30 of the most intriguing designs and told that story, rather than the 120-odd designs. I would buy this used, because it does make for interesting reading, and the aviation enthusiast will enjoy parts, but probably not the whole. For me, I always enjoyed the Myasishschev designs for their unique grace. This is the first book to collect stories of the most important Soviet aircraft, including experimental machines from the early 1900s through to the latest Russian prototypes of today. About 150 types are described, each with data and many with extensive drawings. Protected by a rigid wall of secrecy, the Soviet Union built a range of aircraft of advanced design. This began in the early 1900s and continued through to the 1980s and beyond. This study catalogues a huge number of such experimental aircraft Gennemgang af X- og Y-fly i det tidligere Sovjetunionen