Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5: 1916 onwards (S.E.5, S.E.5a, S.E.5b, S.E.5E) (Owners' Workshop Manual)

Great book for the modeler or someone that wants construction information for SE5. Great close up photos of replica planes and everything you would want to know with accompanying photographs.

2017 has been a weird year for Haynes. They've published some very fine "manuals" (the ones on the Mercury spacecraft and Cassini being standouts) but I'm getting kind of a "meh" feeling from their recent output. Until recently this series was much more technically and mechanically oriented. Lately, they've been cutting back on the "nerdy" material and replacing it with an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach, which is much less satisfying.First, the good stuff. This book features some interesting technical material, including a fairly in-depth discussion of the aircraft's development. There are some interesting first-hand accounts of flying the aircraft, along with step-by-step instructions on building and rigging the plane. There's even a lengthy report on a captured Hispano-Suiza V8 engine which was written in Germany in 1917. The color photographs of surviving S.E.5s and modern replicas, and of aircraft undergoing restoration, are outstanding and sure to please modelers.Unfortunately, there's an awful lot of padding and potted history here of limited value in a "workshop manual." A quick perusal reveals biographies of famous aces, a lengthy overview of what life was like on a WWI airfield, a history of a postwar skywriting operation, a five-page glossary of period airman's slang, and even a recipe for Albert Ball's favorite cake! Only about two-fifths of this book focuses solely on the S.E.5; the rest is mostly ancillary material that doesn't really support the subtitle promising "insights into design, engineering, restoration, etc."Although Haynes' Sopwith Camel "manual" had some flaws, it was definitely a more well-rounded and in-depth technical study than this one. Despite having some interesting parts, there's simply too much fluff in this one to seriously recommend it.

I esp. like the recipe for ripping bread!

10 stars for book! Absolutely fantastic...a beautiful addition to my WW1 library.ZERO STARS for Ebay's packing AGAIN. It sucks...every book I buy a book it arrives like it came out of a dumpster!Why don't they shrink wrap them on a piece of cardboard like they used to???Too much trouble I'm guessing, even for a prime member!

The Haynes series varies a lot. This one in almost all history and very light on pictures/drawings and details. Not very useful as a molders reference.

I was terribly disappointed to read this much-looked-forward-to book. It was nowhere even close to the usual Haynes standards for aeroplanes. I certainly did not expect to read 2 pages of peans on a book like Goshawk Squadron or 5 pages on Airmen's Slang, 1 page on a plum cake (for GOD'S SAKE!), 3 pages on places of interest, 2 pages on making models, or excerpts from pilots' biographies/ autobiographies on flying the SE 5 which was passed off as The Pilot's View. SUCH a change from another Haynes Manual on a contemporary aeroplane, the Sopwith Camel. People who buy these Haynes Manuals are very serious aviation enthusiasts, aviators and non-aviators, but all bound together by a passion for aviation, and I'm surprised that Haynes thought it fit to publish it under their banner.

I’m currently building a model of the SE5 and was looking for a book that would provide me with lots of details of the aircraft and its construction. You would think that a book with the title “Owners workshop manual” would provide such a thing. However with this particular book that is not the case. There are very few photographs of the aeroplane’s details; there isn’t even a rigging diagram. There are however five pages given over to a dictionary of airman’s slang, two chapters given over to an overview of the war in the air in the First World War and many pages describing the experiences of the men flew the aircraft during the First World War. There is even a chapter on how to bake Albert Ball’s favourite cake! This may well be interesting and useful information in the round, but it is irrelevant in a book which is supposed to be a workshop manual. Many subjects which should’ve been in the workshop manual have been omitted; there isn’t a rigging diagram for the aircraft, there is a diagram showing the control cables but it’s so small as to be illegible, there isn’t a photograph detailing how the Vickers gun is fitted on the port side, there aren’t any detail photographs of the tail and tailplane showing the rigging, fitment, and construction, there isn’t a photograph of the rear tail skid, and there aren’t any detailed photographs of the undercarriage. if you’re looking for a book that gives a detailed history of the aircraft within the context of the First World War and the pilots that flew it then this is for you. If you looking for a book gives you sufficient details to be able to build a scale model then look elsewhere. This is NOT a workshop manual.

Absolutely brilliant! One of the very best of the Haynes manuals relating to aircraft. It really is a wonderful comprehensive look at the SE5, her history, those who flew her, her technical anatomy, an excellent look at restoring the SE5 and especially NZ's The Vintage Aviator company which is manufacturing unparalleled full scale airworthy replicas. The book also has a number of exceedingly interesting appendices, covering the SE5 in popular culture: films; fiction (including an interview with renowned aviation fiction novelist Derek Robinson); scale modelling of the SE5; and a wonderful (and delicious I might add) recipe for the plum cake that RFC ace Albert Ball used to take up on patrols. All of this is rounded off with a splendid glossary of airmen's slang from the time. The production values of this are also top notch, the paper stock is lovely, the printing superb, the photography is phenomenal and it's bound in a sturdy hardback format. For those interested in this wonderful aircraft I'd urge them to pick this up as it's excellent. Very highly recommended.

Whilst this book is very good as far as it goes, it doen't really offer anything that the Albatros Publications titles dealing with the variants of this aircraft don't provide. Maybe I purchased the book under a misapprehension. I thought it would be like the various car and Land Rover Haynes manuals I own - i.e. jam packed with drawings and diagrams. I didn't want any more colour photographs or subject history. I wanted drawings! I'm posting this really as a warning to anyone thinking of buying the book and hoping they'll get the equivalent of the excellent car manuals. They won't!

Very pleased with item. 👌

the se5a has been over shadowed by the sopwith camel but was superior over rall the se5a was the aircraft of the top aces this book explores the se5a perfectly