United Kingdom News-stand - Partworks
	'Wonders of World Aviation' [The Amalgamated Press, no ISSN] Subtitled 'The Conquest of the Air in Story and Picture'. A complete set comprised 40 editions + Index (not the 45 editions mentioned on the cover of Part 1). Published weekly from March 1938 onwards. About 30 pages in each issue. The editorial contents covered a wide range of topics, from how an aeroplane flies, to parachuting to features on specific aircraft types. It was full of excellent illustrations in the old high quality printing style, with double page spreads that show rivet size detail, typical of the old large format cameras. Each issue included rare colour illustrations. Edited by Clarence Winchester. Ceased Publication
	'War in the Air: Aerial Wonders of Our Time' [The Amalgamated Press Ltd, no ISSN] Described as 'The Picture Story of Things Past and Things to Come'. A complete set comprised 25 parts. Published between November 7th, 1935 and April 23rd, 1936. Richly illustrated, and comprised 804 pages in total. A survey of military aviation, past and present, around the world. Edited by Sir John Hammerton. Ceased Publication
	'History of Aviation' [New English Library, no ISSN] Published in 72 weekly parts of 16 pages each, circa 1970-1972, making up three bound volumes in total. This series gave a good general history of aviation, with plenty of illustrations (b+w and colour photos, with 3-view silhouettes and specifications for major types mentioned in the text). Each issue usually featured three articles on different subjects. The series was later republished in book form in two separate editions. Edited by John WR Taylor and Kenneth Munson. Ceased Publication
	'Wings - Encyclopedia of Aviation' [Orbis Publishing, no ISSN] Published in 150 weekly parts of 20 pages each, between 1976 and 1979, making a total of 10 bound volumes. The first 8 volumes comprised an A-Z survey of famous aircraft manufacturers, aircraft types, aviation personalities and air battles under the headings: Trailblazers, War in the Air, Theory of Flight, Famous Aeroplanes, Fighting Airmen. The last 2 volumes comprised a compilation of pilot's impressions of famous aircraft (vol 9: In the Cockpit) and a world air forces survey (vol 10). Both of these latter were later republished in book form. Well illustrated with large b+w and colour photos, colour 3-view drawings etc. Wide in scope but lacking in detail. Ceased Publication
	'The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft' [Aerospace Publishing/Orbis Publishing, no ISSN] Published in 216 weekly parts of 20 pages (excluding covers) each, between 1982 and 1985, making a total of 18 bound volumes with 4280 pages. This promised to be a mammoth publishing effort with the first 13 volumes comprising features on the History of Aviation (especially air wars, aircraft technical development and air power today, with a little bit on civil aviation), profiles of major aircraft types (World's Greatest Aircraft), and a detailed A-Z of aircraft. The first part of the A-Z was much more detailed than the remainder, with the letters A-L taking 10 volumes and M-Z taking only 3 volumes. In the later stages many multi-type entries were condensed into a single entry. The editors had obviously shyed away from producing a complete definitive survey when mid-way through the series. The next 3 volumes continued as before but with the A-Z section replaced by an chronology of aviation history, and in the remaining 3 volumes by a summary history of each RAF squadron. Very well illustrated with b+w and colour photos, colour profiles, colour 3-view drawings, line drawings, cutaway drawings etc. It eventually included some 6000 photos, 2000 colour profiles, 200 cutaway drawings and 214 detailed colour 3-view drawings. It appeared in six different languages around the world. If only the editors had used the last 5 volumes to finish the A-Z properly, instead of recycling information easily available elsewhere. Ceased Publication
	'Warplane' [Aerospace Publishing/Orbis Publishing, no ISSN] 'Warplane' was published in 120 weekly parts of 24 pages each, between 1985 and 1988, making a total of 10 bound volumes. Focusing on modern military aviation, this partwork adopted a similar format to 'The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft' (see above). Each issue included a feature on modern military aircraft operations, (War Zone), covering recent air wars from Afganistan to Vietnam or the operational profiles of individual aircraft types - from counter-insurgency operations in the Afican Bush to Cold War spy missions; a detailed article on a major aircraft type (Datafile); and a continuing A-Z directory of modern military aircraft, which eventually covered about 450 types. Very well illustrated, this partwork introduced the three-quarter-view fold-out centrespread colour artwork feature which was later adopted in subsequent publications such as 'World Air Power Journal'. Many colour photos, colour profiles, cutaway drawings, line drawings etc. Ceased Publication
	'Take-Off' [Aerospace Publishing/Eaglemoss Publications, ISSN 0953-7473] Subtitled 'Experience the World Of Aircraft'. Published in 132 weekly parts of 28 pages each, between May 1988 and January 1990, making a total of 11 bound volumes with 3700 pages. This was a more wide-ranging publication, covering with world of aviation in several sections: Air Combat - military aircraft operations, Civil Operations - airlines & airliners, Accident Investigation - famous air crashes, Flying Colours - photo features, Race for the Skies - technical developments including the evolution of major aircraft types, Aircraft Reference File - brief technical data on several aircraft types grouped by a theme. Included many accounts from the pilot's point of view. Extremely well illustrated and very colourful - featuring large colour photos, colour 3-view drawings and original artwork which was produced specifically for this publication. The coverage of interwar airliners and 1950's military aircraft types was particularly good, although the pre-World War Two era was generally poorly covered - presumably because of the lack of colour illustrations. The same production team later produced World Air Power Journal. Ceased Publication
	'Airplane' [Aerospace Publishing/Orbis Publishing, ISSN ?] Published between 1990 and 1993 in about 150 weekly parts of 20 pages each, totalling some 6000 pages. 'Airplane' claimed to be the most comprehensive aircraft encyclopedia published to date. It included detailed three-view drawings, colour profiles and featured four-page fold-out action artwork of the world's greatest aircraft. This was a slightly updated version of 'The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft' (see above), with the addition of some new features on major airlines and selected extracts from 'Warplane' (also see above). Section headings included Military Operations, Great Aircraft of the World, and A-Z of Aircraft. The A-Z was a slightly updated version of that featuring in previous publications from this publisher and still unbalanced. 'Airplane' was also published in a number of languages worldwide. Ceased Publication
	'Take-Off' [Aerospace Publishing, ISSN ?] Published in 132 weekly parts of 28 pages each, between January 1994 and 1996. This was a slightly revised version of the earlier title, with the addition of several features on the recent Gulf War, but an unchanged reference section. Ceased Publication
	'World Aircraft Information Files' [Bright Star Publishing, ISSN 1369-6483] Published in 218 weekly parts, from early 1998 until 2002. Each issue comprised 32 pages, the same large page size as World Air Power Journal and Wings of Fame, organised as a series of pull-out reference files to be slotted into ring binders (also supplied). The subjects covered are grouped into 13 categories as follows: aircraft weapons and tactics, airforces of the world, war in the air, aviation hall of fame, world civil aircraft, airlines of the world, air accidents, private aviation, special purpose aviation, aviation technology, A-Z of aircraft, history of aviation, world military aircraft. In total there was over 1000 file subjects. Since each subject was covered in only 2 or 4 sides, the depth of coverage was somewhat limited, although this was overcome for some subjects by including many files on different aspects of the same subject. Many of the illustrations and much of the data will be familiar to subscribers to WAPJ and WoF - but the target readership were not likely to be existing readers. The A-Z was closely based on previous Aerospace Publishing publications with some editing and updating. The bias towards aircraft types early in the alphabet was accentuated in this version, with letters A through F making up fully 64% of the total (versus 48% in 'Airplane') while letters P through Z made up a dismal 9% (versus 23% in the earlier version). In fact, all the letters A through L receive superior coverage in the new version while all the letters M thru Z receive inferior coverage. Ceased publication Further information: World Aircraft Information Files Subscriptions, PO Box 2822, London, W6 0BR. Tel: 0800 214050 or 01234 840347.
	'War Machine' [Aerospace Publishing/Orbis Publishing, No ISSN] Published in 144 weekly parts of 20 pages each between 1983 and 1986. This was a comprehensive survey of the world's military equipment in the 20th century. The scope was very wide and included everything from ICBMs and jet fighters to dreadnought battleships and sub-machine guns. Each issue covered a single topic eg: combat helicopters. Well illustrated with colour photos, colour profiles, tactics diagrams etc. Issue 144 was the index. Also published in French, Italian and Spanish. Ceased Publication
	'Aircraft of the Aces: Men and Legends' [Delprado Publishers/Osprey Publishing, ISSN ?] Published from 1999 to 2001. This was a series of 60 booklets published fortnightly. Every second issue included a 1/100 scale diecast metal model of an aircraft - usually related to the subject of the booklet. The booklets were abridged versions of the original Osprey editions, with the same cover artwork but with the number of pages reduced from 96 to 64, and featured 150+ illustrations - including 12 pages of colour drawings. Later editions included subjects from the Osprey 'Combat Aircraft' series of unit and aircraft type histories as well as from 'Aircraft of the Aces'. The majority of booklets concentrated on WW2 subjects but Korea, Vietnam and eventually WW1 were also included. The diecast models were of surprisingly good quality for the price. 60 different model aircraft were available - presumably the 30 not supplied by subscription were available individually. Each model came with a set of technical specification cards that were intended to form an encyclopaedia of military aviation - these cards came on three sheets, with colour photos, colour 3-view drawings, cutaway drawings etc of the aircraft type modelled. In addition, collectors were provided with a number of single cards corresponding to aircraft not featured as models. These built-up into an inventory of the century's most representative military aircraft. Classified according to country of origin, era, type and model, the index cards outlined the principal characteristics of each aircraft, together with technical data and details of their history. The complete collection thus comprised 60 booklets, 60 aircraft models, 60 triple index cards related to the aircraft models and 300 single index cards. This series was also published in Spain ('Aviones en Combat'), France ('Les Combats du Ciel') and the Netherlands ('Vliegtuigen in Gevecht') in identical format. Ceased Publication Further information: website: delPrado [*] Contents Listing, No.1 - No.60