Midland Publishing

Beriev’s Jet Flying Boats (Red Star Volume 28)

by  Yefim Gordon, Andrey Sal'nikov and Aleksander Zablotskiy

Reviewed By  John Lester, IPMS# 36807

MSRP: $36.95 ISBN: 1857802365 Softbound, 128pgs; Color and black & white photos. Jet-powered flying boats?! How cool is that! This volume of the Red Star series takes an in-depth look at the history and development of the jet-engined seaplanes produced by the Beriev design bureau, in both the Soviet and later Russian eras. From it's start in 1934 at the Black Sea town of Taganrog to the present day, the bureau has produced a string of successful aircraft which have been widely used in the old Soviet Union and Eastern European states for maritime patrol, passenger/cargo service, and air-seas rescue operations. Today, the Beriev TANTK is the premiere organization in the world specializing in flying boat design and construction. The book is divided into eight sections: · Introduction - a brief history of the design bureau, it's leaders and projects · Chapter 1: OKB-49's Jet Firstling - the R-1/R-2 projects, first to use jet engines · Chapter 2: First Success - The Be-10 seaplane and associated projects · Chapter 3: Proud Bird of the Sea - A-40 'Albatross' amphibian and associated projects · Chapter 4: 'Little Brother' - the Be-200 amphibian and associated projects · Chapter 5: On the Seven Seas - Various ocean-going seaplane projects over the years · Line Drawings - scale drawings of the major variants discussed in the book · Color Photographs - focusing on the successful production and prototype airframes The book delves deeply into the history of each project, discussing not only the successful prototypes and production aircraft but the one-off special projects and various paper proposals as well. Gordon et al. present the material clearly and concisely, in a very readable style. Russian terms and words are used liberally, but always fully explained. The text is lavishly supported with photographs, drawings and diagrams. Of particular interest to me were the ocean-going seaplane proposals and their accompanying illustrations … the giant A-150 anti-submarine craft and the Be-2500 WIG craft look too wild for me NOT to build at some point. If there is one drawback, it's not the book's fault: there are not a lot of model kits of these aircraft available. The drawings and photographs are a good start for scratchbuilding, but making a truly accurate scale replica solely from what's in the book would be difficult. That said, as a source of inspiration the book is first rate. I found the book to be an enjoyable read filled with fascinating information on an obscure corner of the aviation world. I would recommend it to those who enjoy aviation history, and especially to those who - like me - have an abiding interest in seaplanes/flying boats/amphibians. Beriev's Jet Flying Boats is $36.95 (pluh $4.95 shipping) and is available in the US from Specialty Press (www.specialtypress.com) or 1-800-895-4585. Many thanks to Specialty Press for the review copy.

About the Reviewer: John Lester is a founding member of Chicago's IPMS Techmages and runs Starship Modeler (www.starshipmodeler.com).

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