Bristol Brabazon

This is a plane whose very existence (never mind history) has been largely ignored, until now. This is a shame, because the Brabazon was in many ways a truly remarkable craft. Graham M. Simons' 'Bristol Brabazon' ably brings the whole story to life. It is an excellent balance of worthy photography and text.For anyone with a penchant for aircraft design and the evolution of piston-driven airliners, this book is a must. Mr. Simons is to be commended for his efforts.Derek ThompsonToronto, Ontario

Like his book on the DeHavilland Comet, Mr. Simons has done a highly credible job in describing the technology and history of this fascinating aircraft. It is well-illustrated, highly readable, and I give it high marks for his detailed analysis of this aircraft.

An excellent review of a rare subject. Author Simons offers wonderful insight into the logic of the design as well as the political realities of technology and national purpose of those times. I appreciated the technical detail and the pictures that accompany the text. Well done and a great value.

Tain't bad. If you're looking for something on the Brabazon it's the only game in town. Some of the pictures were excellent and the text is okay.

Mr Simons has written an excellent book about an aircraft that has often been derided as a white elephant. The book discusses the work of the Brabazon committee, and the evolution of the Type 167 design, the book includes many photographs taken during the construction of the prototypes which gives a true indication of the size of the machine..At the time the type 167 was cutting edge engineering but unfortunately in post war times the very nature of air travel the luxurious service of Imperial Airways had been replaced by a more utilitarian service by Douglas DC-4's and Lockheed Constellations and their developments proved to be sufficient until the DC8 & 707 entered service at the end of the fifties. So was the Brabazon and the Saro Princess both a waste of time & money? well they may have been commercial failures but both were engineering triumphs and as the book notes large transports that were also developed by US manufactures such as Convair (XC-99) Douglas (C-74) & Lockheed (XR6-V) all failed to achieve a single airline sale of their big planes.I recommend this book which celebrates a British engineering triumph which should be remembered with pride.

This is an interesting book and one to be enjoyed by both historian and scholar. The book tells the history of the project very well but it alsohighlights to the scholar how aircraft projects of that period were planned, highlighting how lucky we are today be able to design and build computer models and simulations of new unknown complex designs before we spend time and money.My interest in the Bristol Brabazon and the book came from living close to Bristol. A lad growing up in the cotswolds just after the war. The aircraft flew over our house many times, and I will always remember it as a slow moving yet beautiful looking giant.Very little seemed to be known or had been written about the brabazon project, so this book was of great interest to me. Also, as an aircraft engineer (now retired) I found the large numbers of Engineering plans and illustrations at each step of the build programme highly interesting and informative. A great book at the end you find yourself agreeing with the auther's introduction, also with the benefit of hindsight,and in todays world, "what on earth were those involved with it thinking about."

A really quite splendid book with many illustrations and it is technically accurate. The prose also is very readable.The last chapter gives a good and fair assessment of the project, and opines that in some ways i.e. the concept of luxury transatlantic air travel, it was before its time!

A fabulous book about a missed opportunity in aviation history.

Unlike many aeroplane books this one is full of technical detail, and I am now very well informed on the conceptual, design, engineering and flight history of this graceful giant. The best description of the structural design of an aeroplane of this era that I have read, even down to the rivets. Lots of informative photographs. How I wish I had been around to see her fly, with that enormous wing span and the big contra props.