The annals of aviation history are riddled with heroic failures, duds and disasters. This 80-page book for schoolchildren takes a detailed but light-hearted look at these flying deathtraps – old and new – and asks: How on earth did they get off the drawing board? From the deadly Comet Mk.1 airliner to Howard Hughes’ vast Spruce Goose and the XB-70 Valkyrie, this book features the aircraft that should never have been built. Illustrated with annotated photography or full colour artworks throughout.