World's Worst Aircraft, the

by Bill Yenne

The subjects of this book are not the greats, nor the near greats, of aviations history. They are the black sheep that have embarrassed their builders, enraged their owners and frightened their pilots. In many cases, these are aircraft that never should have been built and which are more starkly bizarre than the most deranged flights of fantasy. This book of "black sheep'' includes some of the worst and most dangerous contrivances ever perpetrated, such as Count Caproni's Transaereo, which was really nothing more than three huge triplanes nailed to a houseboat. Then there's the worthless Brewster F2ABuffalo, the asymmetrical Blohm & Voss Bv-141, the "disposable'' Bachem Ba-349, and the infamous Yokosuka MXY7--the only airplane ever designed to kill its own pilot--just to name a few. Hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs throughout.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Bill Yenne is the author of several novels and over three dozen books on historical topics. He has also been a contributor to encyclopedias of both world wars.

The New Yorker wrote of Sitting Bull, his biography of the great Lakota leader, that it "excels as a study in leadership." This book was named to the number 14 spot among Amazon's 100 Best Books of the Year.

Library Journal observed that "enthusiastic World War II readers will be drawn to" his dual biography, Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top Scoring American Aces of World War II.

Recently, his book Convair Deltas was named as Book of the Month by Air Classics, while his book Tommy Gun was named Pick of the Month by Shooting Illustrated.

His book Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint was listed among the top business books of the year by Cond Nast Portfolio Magazine, which rated Yenne's tome as its TOP pick for "Cocktail Conversation."

Yenne's Rising Sons: The Japanese American GIs Who Fought for the United States in World War II, was praised by Walter Boyne, former Director of the National Air & Space Museum, who called it "a fast moving... page turner," and the "best book yet written on the saga."

The Wall Street Journal wrote, when reviewing his Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West, that Yenne writes with "cinematic vividness," and says of his work that it "has the rare quality of being both an excellent reference work and a pleasure to read."

The author lives in San Francisco, California, and on the web at www.BillYenne.com

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