Hi forumites-
I need help tracking down a book that I know exists. It was my father's aircraft book that was lost during a move about 20 years or so ago. I can't ask him what it was called, if he even would remember, because I want to get it for Father's Day and don't want to "tip my hand" so to speak. So I'm turning to this forum. Here's what I remember...
It was a very robust book, but not a HUGE book. I think it was maybe 300-500 pages at most, but could be wrong. It detailed many different aircraft, mostly civilian but I am not excluded military in case I'm not recalling it perfectly. It had 3-view images on some planes with pretty lengthy descriptions on the major aircraft. Basic information was speeds, weights, etc but some detailed development and variations. The most "defining" feature I remember that I have not been able to find in books I've purchased were the many "exploded views" of the aircraft. These images had a legend above/below referencing each area or part. Examples would be: 42) Left Engine Intake, 3) Middle Emergency Exit, 25) Nose Antenna or 132) Rear Bathrooms. Additionally, I think there were seating layouts/diagrams. I remember there being large commercial aircraft, like 737s, the Concorde, etc, smaller craft like Cessnas, and older aircraft like DC-3s. I read this book many times as a kid and I just can't seem to find the book that matches what I'm remembering. I've already purchased "Modern Commercial Aircraft" by Endres and "The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Aircraft" edited by Mondey. I thought one of these had to be it, but when I received them the other day they just weren't the book I remember.
More information that might help - My father traveled a lot in the early/mid 70s while in the Army and then for work in the late 70s and early 80s. Maybe he bought it at an airport and it was a limited production/esoteric book? I hope not, I really wanted to track this thing down but have been unsuccessful every time I search for it. Not many matching results show up when I've looked for it in the past. I have been able to track down an image that matches what I remember being in the book. Here is a link to this exploded view image --->
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...779f496898.jpg
I have tried looking into "JP Fleets International" and Jane's "All the World's Aircraft" but haven't been able to see any sample pages of the insides of the books. I don't want to buy them and have them end up not being what I'm looking for. So, does anyone have any recollection of a book like this? Thanks so much in advance and I hope this is in the right sub-forum! If not, I apologize and mods please move to appropriate forum.