Thursday, June 22, 2017

Three nifty old aircraft-themed book covers

This afternoon's post follows on the heels of last week's "Three nifty old sports-themed book covers."


  • Title: The Motor Boys Over the Rockies
  • Series: The Motor Boys (this book is #10 of 22)
  • Author: Clarence Young (a pseudonym used by several Stratemeyer authors)
  • Cover illustrator: Possibly R. Richards
  • Publisher: Cupples & Leon Company, New York
  • Year of publication: 1911
  • Pages: 248
  • Excerpt from preface: "Airships are now getting to be a regular feature of our daily life, and, while not yet as numerous as automobiles, it is only a question of time when they will be. You remember, I suppose, when automobiles were not very numerous, but there is not a city in this country to-day, where several can not be seen."
  • Excerpt from story: "Their course was not southwest, and, judging by the speed and length of time they had been in motion, they figured that the airship was over Pennsylvania. As it raced along, about five hundred feet above the surface, and over a rather sparsely settled country, Bob, who was looking through a telescope, suddenly uttered a cry."
  • Notes: Names written in the front include Margaret Ann Yancey (possibly this person), John Yancey and John Brake. ... See the previous posts on The Rover Boys at Big Horn Ranch and a Motor Girls book cover.


  • Title: The Sky Detectives
  • Subtitle: How Jack Ralston Got His Man
  • Series: The Jack Ralston/Sky Detectives Series (this is #1 of 6)
  • Author: Ambrose Newcomb
  • Cover illustrator: Unknown
  • Publisher: The Goldsmith Publishing Company, Chicago
  • Year of publication: 1930
  • Pages: 254
  • Excerpt: "No flyer ever saw his enemy going down in a flaming coffin without feeling compassion gripping him; that one moment had changed his heart from bitter hatred to a sense of pity; knowing as he must have done that the day might be near at hand when he too would share in a similar dreadful fate."
  • Notes: The inscription on the first page states "Merry Christmas 1946 from Jack B. Ward." ... If you're curious, you can read the The Sky Detectives MEGAPACK™, featuring all six books in the series, for just 99 cents on Kindle.


  • Title: Bill Bruce in the Trans-Continental Race
  • Series: The Aviator Series (also known as the Bill Bruce Series). This is #5 of 6.
  • Author: Major Henry H. Arnold, Air Corps, aka Hap Arnold (1886-1950)
  • Cover illustrator: Unknown
  • Publisher: A.L. Burt Company, New York
  • Year of publication: 1928
  • Pages: 247
  • Excerpt: "Bill studied his map as he returned to this plane. Battle Mountain, 169 miles away, was the next control. The railroad in between the two towns made a large letter 'S.' Anyone flying a straight course would pass over many miles of rough, mountainous, barren, uninhabited terrain. In case of a forced landing there would be absolutely no possibility of getting the plane repaired and continuing the race."
  • Notes: All six books in the series were published in 1928. ... Upon doing one final flip-through of this book, I found an exciting little "tucked away inside." It's an old cursive note, on a piece of paper the size of a magazine address label. It states: "Dear Claire, This reminded me so much of you that I just had to take it home."

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