British Manuals

[John Dupre]

I will be visiting Ireland, Dublin, the west coast and Cork, this summer. I hope to find some old book stores that might have vintage aircraft manuals. Specifically I would like to find a British equivalent of the Aircraft Mechanic's Handbook which is a pocket sized handbook of standards, hardware, procedures etc. Any help from across the pond will be appreciated.

[tom d. friedman]

i have an early post ww 2 raf manual volume 1, 1949 dated, air ministry marked. string bound, measures 10" x 8 " no page numbers, but manual is 1 1/4 inches thick. covers every aspect of of british raf aviation, including early jet info. manual is as thorough as it it gets!! good condition, many hand written notes. $225.00 + shipping.

[John Dupre]

Sounds like what I am looking for but the price is a little too much right now.

thanks though.

[tom d. friedman]

john did you receive my pm??

[Enemy Ace]

there is a large and active segment of the population in the Uk that are aviation enthusiasts. I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. I have always had my best luck at outdoor used book fairs in the summer.
Another thing to consider is the exchange rate and the very high cost of shipping your treasures back to the states if you use the mails.
I also think you are going to be in the wrong place, most aviation was in england not Ireland.
But good luck with that. Show us what you find.

[JDK]

I will be visiting Ireland, Dublin, the west coast and Cork, this summer. I hope to find some old book stores that might have vintage aircraft manuals. Specifically I would like to find a British equivalent of the Aircraft Mechanic's Handbook which is a pocket sized handbook of standards, hardware, procedures etc. Any help from across the pond will be appreciated.

Ireland is not (and was not in W.W.II) part of the UK or a belligerent, but neutral. (Northern Ireland was and is part of the UK - technically 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'.) The Irish Air Corps did use British aircraft types - Lysander, Gladiator, Hurricane, and Magisters among others, but in small numbers and was not that much modernised or expanded during or after the war.

You might be lucky because it's a very unlikely area to find this kind of material, so any that found its way there might still be there.

The IAC has a collection at the Baldonnel base, I'm not sure how open to the public it is, but if you ask in advance, you may be able to have a look over.

http://jetwashaviationphotos.com/jetwas ... onnel.aspx
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=50867

If you are serious about obtaining manuals in a realistic time frame and paying a fair price, start by talking to UK enthusiasts on the forums. You might otherwise find something like this on a shelf, but it is now very unlikely.

HTH.