The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Directory of Airplanes, Their Designers and Manufactures

This valuable directory contains a wealth of data on the history of aviation and attempts, for the first time, to identify every aircraft manufacturer and designer and every aircraft produced. This indispensable reference book is a comprehensive guide to the sheer number and variety of aircraft produced in the last hundred years.

The directory has thousands of entries with, for each manufacturer or designer, the names of all the classes of aircraft produced (powered fixed wing, unpowered fixed wing, powered rotor rotor-craft and unpowered-rotor rotor-craft). Entries are cross-referenced and brief histories of important companies have been added to enable the researcher to chart mergers, closures, and name changes. Significant nicknames and code names are also detailed. This valuable and unique book presents a vast, official array of data in an accessible form and is an essential reference book for any aviation enthusiast.