Boum ! A History of the SPAD XII Canon: How France’s Greatest Ace & Aerospace Engineers of WWI Created the World’s First Production Canon-Armed Fighter

On 27th July 1917, a secret new weapon took to the skies over the Western Front. It carried a devastatingly large armament derived from naval designs and ingeniously engineered to fire through the propeller shaft of the aircraft. The secrecy of the project was such that even the sound of the weapon was reportedly censored in contemporary accounts. When it finally entered combat, the impact of the 37mm canon on wood and canvas was overwhelming: “The effect was immediate, the aircraft was cut in two and burned, the wings went to one side, the fuselage to the other…”. This book charts the remarkable story of the SPAD Canon aircraft of WWI — from early French experiments in canon-armed planes, to the power of one ace's fame and family connections in steering government decisions, and the emergence of SPAD’s frontline types and their relatively obscure contribution to the conflict. It also explores the legacy they carried into the next great war. Boum! is the first English-language study of the fascinating SPAD Canon aircraft. It shines a light on their history through newly rediscovered documents, photographs, and films from archives across the globe.