I am selling the books listed below. Shipping will be added to all prices, however only the true shipping cost, depending on book size and weight as well as chosen delivery speed, will be charged, without any additional surcharge for handling. If you are interested, please email me at snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net (remove .NOSPAM from the address) ? the Compuserve address above is no longer valid.
------------------------------------------------------------- For sale is a copy of the "Forty-Fourth Annual Report of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 1958, Administrative Report Including Technical Papers Nos. 1342 to 1392 (Final Report)", published by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1959, hardcover, no dust jacket. This book represents the final volume issued by NACA on its activities before it was transformed into NASA and is the best primary source on Committee activities and achievements. The Annual Report provides a brief outline of Committee membership, policy, activities, facilities, and budget, along with a summary of the state of aeronautical research. Bound with the Annual Report are the Technical Reports published in that year. The report starts with a letter of transmittal by President Eisenhower to Congress and a letter of submittal to the President by the famous James Doolittle, who then was NACA Chairman and issued this final annual. The forwarding letters pointed out that at the close of business of September 30, 1958, the NACA would cease to exist and that all facilities and employees would be absorbed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to be established the following day. Following a brief overview over NACA and how it operates, two special contributions, "Forty Years of Aeronautical Research", first published in the Smithsonian annual report for 1955 and reprinted in the Final Annual Report, and its companion piece, "The Following Years,
1955-1958", by James Doolittle, provide a fascinating summary of the history and accomplishments of NACA. Additional sections peculiar to the final report concern reprints of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which created NASA out of NACA, and the proclamation making said act effective at close of business of September 30, 1958. The bulk of the volume is constituted by 51 individual technical reports covering the whole spectrum of NACA activities. Many of the papers concern classical aviation related topics, such as crash fire prevention in turbojet aircraft, airfoil theory, atmospheric flight, aerodynamics and fluid dynamics, but a number of publications on topics like high energy fuels for ramjet engines, ballistic missiles entry and hypervelocity vehicles herald the dawn of the space age. The tome has a total of 1494 pages and is 9 ¼" x 11 ½" tall and 3" thick, with a weight of 11 lbs. It includes black and white as well as color photographs, diagrams, drawings, tables, formulas, and literature references. This report is now very rare and hard to find, and, being the last of its kind ever to be published, it constitutes a unique historical document on NASA's predecessor. The book is an ex library copy that was recently surplussed by the Boeing company branch library at the Huntington Beach plant. It has typical library marks, stamps and stickers reading "Douglas Aircraft Library" and "Douglas Aircraft Division Technical Library". Some shelf wear, bumping of corners and cracking has occurred, and the pages have yellowed, with small tears on a few of them. Otherwise the book is in good condition. The price is $60.------------------------------------------------------------- For sale is a copy of "Aircraft Inspection Methods" by Niles Clark Bartholomew, Pitman Publishing Corporation, New York, 1940, hardbound in red cloth covers with black lettering on front and spine, no dust jacket. This book covers the inspection of the various parts of typical pre WWII airplanes. The prime purpose of this book was defined "to instruct the beginner, the student and mechanic in the essential requirements of an airworthy airplane as well as in methods of determining when such conditions are met." The author was employed by the Curtiss Aeroplane Division of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, and consequently almost all of the photographs are of Curtiss aircraft, including the Hawk III biplane fighter, the Type 75 (with both fixed and retractable gear types) and the SOC. These photographs, which show internal construction details not normally seen on the finished planes as well as features like gun and bomb installations, make the book especially interesting to aviation enthusiasts as well as model builders. The book also includes a ten page example of a typical inspection chart that provides a guideline for a thorough inspection on an aircraft. The book has a total of 131 pages and is 5 ¼" x 8 ¼" tall and ½" thick. It includes 19 chapters illustrated with black and white photographs and line drawings and an index. The book is an ex library copy that was recently surplussed by the Boeing company branch library at the Huntington Beach plant and wears the stamps "Douglas Aircraft Library / Nov 25 1941 / Douglas Aircraft Co. Inc. / Santa Monica, Calif." as well as "Withdrawn from Boeing Library Holdings" and thus represents a bit of aerospace history in itself. Apart from typical library marks, stamps and stickers, some light fraying of the cloth cover at the back and light soiling and rubbing of the outside and covers, bumped and worn corners and a crease on one page, the book is in good condition. The price is $14.
------------------------------------------------------------- For sale is a report "The Douglas Aerophysics Laboratory Four-Foot Trisonic Wind Tunnel", Douglas Missile & Space Systems Division, Douglas Report DAC-59809, October 1967. This report describes the Four-Foot Trisonic Wind Tunnel, which allowed to simulate aerodynamic phenomena in a speed range from subsonic through Mach 5, and the Douglas Aerophysics Laboratory facility in El Segundo, CA, where it was located. It also presents the performance and operating characteristics of the tunnel, model support and design considerations for tests, diverse test capabilities, associated instrumentation and data recording equipment, data processing and presentation, and customer responsibilities for obtaining optimum planning and performance of wind tunnel tests. It was intended fur use as an aid in planning and conducting tests in the wind tunnel and constitutes a document reflecting a piece of aerospace history. The report has a total of 78 pages and is 8 ½" x 11" tall. It comprises 9 sections and contains tables as well as black and white photographs, drawings and diagrams. It has transparent plastic covers and a plastic binding. The price is $12.