eBooks and eArticles

[edwest]

Dear Richard,


I also purchased a copy of Wings of the Black Cross Number 9 and like you, could not believe my eyes when I saw the EF 126 fuselages. Although there is a list of contributors in the book, who took this photo? What is its provenance? I don't doubt that it's genuine. As an aside, I keep reading about private collections or photo albums on eBay that disappear in a heartbeat. I have seen a few photos of an Fi-103 R with a small wooden box on the top of the tail assembly on an American trailer with unknown contents, and a photo of a Messerschmitt P.1101 inside an unknown building in an undamaged state. As I recall, it was not missing the side fuselage piece that is commonly seen in books. And it disappeared a moment later.

Regarding libraries. They buy the books they lend out. Yes, one is allowed under the "fair use" law to photocopy pages from books and magazines for research purchases. But, whether people realize it or not, sharing such material over the computer amounts to distributing it. Even though pieces of paper are not involved, it's still distribution.

We have an old but top of the line scanner which we use for scanning artwork and photos that we own. These are either reprinted as is or used for printed books.

Convenience is nice. And we all don't want to do more work than is necessary but sometimes this subject is brought up as a one-way street. If a publisher produced an e-book, I would contact them for a physical print-out even though I would pay more, including shipping it to me. Just speaking for myself, I want data. Photos are good but we've printed photos, even in color, on our own equipment and again, from my point of view, that would be fine for the kind of information I'm looking for, namely the existence, location and actual photos of aircraft, missiles, rockets and other secret projects that supposedly never went beyond the drawing board or officially never existed.

In the much ignored book, T-Force by Sean Longdon, there is mention of "electrically charged rockets" being guarded by the Dutch Resistance. A google search revealed a reference to such rockets in a Czech scientific publication and the name Eugen Sänger. Dr. Sänger first published his ideas about this subject in 1953.




Best regards,
Ed