HOTOL: Britain's Spaceplane by Dan Sharp

scautomoton said:
I had a very quick flick through it, as you mentioned there looks to be almost too much information in there! I look forward to ignoring the family at some point over the next 2 weeks so I can absorb it all.
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I had a ridiculous number of period documents to work from - and practically every surviving member of the Hotol team available to answer questions - so it should in theory be quite comprehensive!
 
Foo Fighter said:
That is one heck of a work rate, Sir. Mind you keep an eye on yourself too please.
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It might appear as though I'm working myself to death but the publication of three big hardbacks so close together has resulted more by accident than design. I did most of my research for the Hotol book back in 2018-2019, then work on it slowed considerably for the next four years while I tackled subjects that were easier and quicker to do for various reasons.

Messerschmitt Me 309 Development & Politics was completed, from my side, by mid-2023 but on the engine side Calum was hampered by certain archives refusing to allow access. I then switched to writing Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe (another 70k+ word project). When that was done - finished November 2023, published December - I started on Messerschmitt Me 328 Development & Politics.

Calum then started to make some progress on Me 309, so both that and Me 328 came together in parallel. In early March 2024, I decided that I needed to really knuckle down on Hotol - so I started work on that as Me 309 and Me 328 were entering the page design phase.

Me 309 and Me 328 were published on the same day in May 2024 and Hotol was, as I've said, fully written by the end of August - then entering two months of vetting from BAE Systems. In the meantime, I started on my next (as yet unrevealed) book as well as a second longer-term project. Vetting of Hotol ended at the end of October IIRC and production/page design was then wrapped up. Hence three big hardbacks in one seven-month period (May-December 2024).

Exactly when my next book will come out I'm not sure. It was slated for January 2025 but it's not going to make that.
 
TsrJoe said:
Arrived this morning (that's my Christmas reading sorted) truly a magnum opus on the subject. It is truly fascinating seeing how the Hotol design evolved from initial concept. Brilliant work Dan :)
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Thanks - one of the key aspects of Hotol that I wanted to nail down was the design evolution. Viewed as a bunch of promotional leaflets, publicity photos, conference reports and other publicly available material, Hotol appears to exist in a bewildering variety of different forms - some longer, others shorter, some in between.

However, the design and development process followed a very clear path and it did prove possible to show what changed, when it changed and why it changed throughout the project's duration from the early 80s to the early- to mid-1990s.
 
newsdeskdan said:
Thanks - one of the key aspects of Hotol that I wanted to nail down was the design evolution. Viewed as a bunch of promotional leaflets, publicity photos, conference reports and other publicly available material, Hotol appears to exist in a bewildering variety of different forms - some longer, others shorter, some in between.

However, the design and development process followed a very clear path and it did prove possible to show what changed, when it changed and why it changed throughout the project's duration from the early 80s to the early- to mid-1990s.
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Your book on MUSTARD was a revelation as it showed all the iterations of that design. I never would have guessed that there were so many and often so diverse. It will probably take a little while longer to get to the antipodes, so I am expecting it some time in January.
 
Rhinocrates said:
Your book on MUSTARD was a revelation as it showed all the iterations of that design. I never would have guessed that there were so many and often so diverse. It will probably take a little while longer to get to the antipodes, so I am expecting it some time in January.
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The guy who did most of the MUSTARD drawings, Gerald David 'Dave' Walley, also worked on potential Hotol alternatives (some actual Hotols but with different propulsion systems, others Hotol-like vehicles and others no longer visually identifiable as Hotol derivatives) - in parallel to the core Hotol team. British Aerospace wanted to be certain that the RB.545-powered horizontal take-off Hotol configuration was the best possible means of achieving its mission goals.

This book includes an entire chapter, fully illustrated of course, on those designs.
 
Rhinocrates said:
Your book on MUSTARD was a revelation as it showed all the iterations of that design. I never would have guessed that there were so many and often so diverse. It will probably take a little while longer to get to the antipodes, so I am expecting it some time in January.
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TsrJoe said:
Arrived this morning (that's my Christmas reading sorted) truly a magnum opus on the subject. It is truly fascinating seeing how the Hotol design evolved from initial concept. Brilliant work Dan :)
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I too prize my copy of Dan Sharp's 2016 book British Secret Projects 5: Britain's Space Shuttle, about the fascinating MUSTARD vehicle. But for the final version of MUSTARD (pp228-230,255), the perfected version that all previous iterations had built up to, the version illustrated on the front cover, no weights are provided, unlike for previous iterations. Yeesh! So readers like me interested in what the final decision was for the vehicle's propellant fraction were out of luck.

I'm glad that UK customers have been receiving their copies of the brand-new HOTOL: Britain's Spaceplane in time for Christmas, as hoped. I look forward to getting my own copy of this book early next year.
 
Owens Z said:
I too prize my copy of Dan Sharp's 2016 book British Secret Projects 5: Britain's Space Shuttle, about the fascinating MUSTARD vehicle. But for the final version of MUSTARD (pp228-230,255), the perfected version that all previous iterations had built up to, the version illustrated on the front cover, no weights are provided, unlike for previous iterations. Yeesh! So readers like me interested in what the final decision was for the vehicle's propellant fraction were out of luck.
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I believe this data (below) relates to the unnumbered final MUSTARD scheme from 1967. I'm not sure why it didn't go into the book eight years ago when I certainly had it to hand at the time (it took me all of five minutes to find it just now). Unfortunately it appears that unless the Hotol book does exceptionally well there will never be a reprint of 'Britain's Space Shuttle' which could correct the oversight.

Mustard weight breakdown.png
 
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So approximately 0.85 propellant mass fractions. Interesting. I have a G.D Triamese detailed document on my HD, same mass fraction.
 
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The postman just brought me a Christmas surprise. I'd forgotten that I'd pre-ordered your book a while back.

I did my PhD at Cranfield in the early 90s on spaceplane design and trajectory optimisation and I had some HOTOL trajectory code which give me a head start. I've only flicked through your book so far, but it looks great. I can't quite believe how much detail there is in there.
Its taking me right back to things I haven't considered in years.

Hopefully, we'll get some dreadful weather over the holidays and can dive in properly.
 
Mcboffin said:
Hopefully, we'll get some dreadful weather over the holidays and can dive in properly.
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scautomoton said:
Never have so many wished for such weather lol
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I have heard that dismal weather over the British Isles is not out of the ordinary. ;-) For those there who have had the opportunity to devour Dan Sharp's big new book HOTOL: Britain's Spaceplane, or at least give it a preliminary overview, what do you think? Anybody want to post a review here? American customers like me have a wait of another five weeks or so.
 
My current delivery estimate has gone out again to 14th Jan. After the bad weather which no doubt postie will appreciate.......
 
Owens Z said:
I have heard that dismal weather over the British Isles is not out of the ordinary. ;-) For those there who have had the opportunity to devour Dan Sharp's big new book HOTOL: Britain's Spaceplane, or at least give it a preliminary overview, what do you think? Anybody want to post a review here? American customers like me have a wait of another five weeks or so.
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In a word, thorough. I still haven't perused it properly, but when I did flick through it, it had everything and more. Plenty of information, diagrams, drawings. The actual pages are about an inch thick.
 
newsdeskdan said:
It doesn't really have any competition, to be fair. It is the first and only book written solely about HOTOL.
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Much like "Spaceplane HERMES" (written by Luc van den Abeelen) is the first and (so far) only book written solely about HERMES.

Both subjects (HOTOL and HERMES) are so specific, and so obscure (from the general public's point of view) that it's unlikely there will be ever more than one book written per subject.

On another note: I received my copy of Dan's HOTOL book today. It's a magnificent piece of work. Only flipped thru it a few times so far, and scan-read several pages, but I can already highly recommend this book.
 
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Got mine today, caution, do not drop this book on your foot.

Some slightly shoddy treatment of the inside glued paper of the front cover which could be avoided but will not affect the reading of the book. Just not something I am used to and printers should be more careful of in future.

I shall flick through this later when I have a bit more time.
 
Foo Fighter said:
Some slightly shoddy treatment of the inside glued paper of the front cover which could be avoided but will not affect the reading of the book. Just not something I am used to and printers should be more careful of in future.
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Sorry to hear that - the copies I've seen all appeared to be okay. Was it a copy delivered direct from the publisher (Mortons) or via another outlet?
 
Nothing to worry about unduly, just something for the printer to keep an eye on. Via Amazon but it is a manafacturing issue. The bottom of the glue in sheet inside the cover has been folded over and it is unsightly but, It will not affect the structure of the book or how I enjoy reading it and I only mention it as feedback for the production team.

I can get a photo up sometime but as for now the old camera is not holding a charge. A nuisance but like me the muddy camera is getting old.
 
Foo Fighter said:
Nothing to worry about unduly, just something for the printer to keep an eye on. Via Amazon but it is a manafacturing issue. The bottom of the glue in sheet inside the cover has been folded over and it is unsightly but, It will not affect the structure of the book or how I enjoy reading it and I only mention it as feedback for the production team.

I can get a photo up sometime but as for now the old camera is not holding a charge. A nuisance but like me the muddy camera is getting old.
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Same for me. A pre-order direct from Mortons but obviously a slight manufacturing issue. Photo for info, but as you say not really an issue.

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Foo Fighter said:
Some slightly shoddy treatment of the inside glued paper of the front cover which could be avoided but will not affect the reading of the book. Just not something I am used to and printers should be more careful of in future.
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steve jb said:
Same for me. A pre-order direct from Mortons but obviously a slight manufacturing issue. Photo for info, but as you say not really an issue.
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That's too bad. In the second post of the recent thread "What do people think about current books?", after mentioning that until being laid off with my colleagues during the pandemic I was a book editor with some experience of the production side, I wrote "for full-color illustrated books on glossy paper, publishers search the world for the cheapest (not necessarily the most skilled and mistake-free, unfortunately) color printer available, as an economy measure". In my day the longtime-world-standard color printers of Italy and Hong Kong, of consistently superb printing quality, binding sturdiness, and attention to detail, were unfortunately being priced out of the book market by cheaper (but noticeably shoddier) color printers in India and elsewhere. Check on the book's copyright page to see where HOTOL: Britain's Spaceplane was printed, and let us know. The printer used was of course not the decision of and thus not the fault of author Dan Sharp.

Nevertheless, even if my copy turns out to have similar defects when this new book becomes available in the United States (and my fingers are crossed), I expect I will consider the purchase worthwhile.
 
Mine was printed by Tempest books, UK. AGreed it does not impact the content or the structure of the book. It will live on my bookcase when not being read and re-read quite happily.

My family ran a print business way back in the day but family squabbles over money saw it closed down in the sixties. Shortly after, that part of Battersea was redeveloped and Grandpa moved to Essex.

Just had a look via streetview, obvously nothing like I remember, even with the feline walking over the keyboard.
 
Foo Fighter, Tempest would be this book's publisher, not the printer, which would be a separate company (Tempest is an imprint of Mortons Media Group Ltd of Horncastle, England.) I suspect you are mistaken that this color-illustrated, glossy-paper book was printed in England, but maybe I'm wrong. On the book's copyright page, is there something (as in standard) that states "Printed by..." or "Printed in..."?
 
HOTOL: Britain's Spaceplane was printed by Gutenberg of Malta. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time there's been a problem of this nature with their work for Tempest. I will pass on Steve's image to the publisher.
 
Foo Fighter said:
Got mine today, caution, do not drop this book on your foot.
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I sure hope this warning does not come from actually having dropped this book on your foot?

But I concur. Dan's latest book is heavy. Should it land on one's foot with the narrow end pointing down, it could do some serious damage to one's metatarsal bones.
 
Well, careless as it may sound, yes. The same toe I accidentally opened the front door over a few days before. Age is making me clumsy it seems. Well, nearly Zebedee. (A magic roundabout segway).
 
Interesting factoid: Interim HOTOL sitting on its An-225 did not came out of nowhere, poof, a day of 1990. The idea had already been in the air for some time...
 

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