March 31, 1995.

Mr. Fred Abatemarco
Editor-in-Chief
POPULAR SCIENCE
2 Park Avenue
NEW YORK, NY 10016

Dear Mr. Abatemarco,

We are troubled by the cover story, "MEGAPLANES", in the April issue of POPULAR SCIENCE. The airplane, shown on the cover and described in the article, is clearly of Burnelli Lifting Body origin. You will see from the enclosed photographic comparison that the McDonnell Douglas "Megaplane" is simply a clone of a 1951 airplane which was designed by Vincent Justus Burnelli. Furthermore, the claimed advantages, mentioned in the article, are only a repeat of those made over and over again for Burnelli Lifting Body airplanes during the past seven decades first by Mr. Burnelli himself and later by his colleagues.

I was interested to see that Bill Sweetman is a co-author of the article. Fourteen years ago, Bill came to visit me at my London home. He explained that he was emigrating to the United States and would like to write an in-depth story on Burnelli and his airplanes to show his talent to the American media. I quickly told him about the conspiracy against Mr. Burnelli and his company by the military-industrial complex, and that for him to present a Burnelli article would surely be detrimental to his career. I explained that the American aviation media was totally under the control of the military-industrial complex due to its enormous political and advertising muscle. Bill thanked me for the information and left. Some months later, I received a telephone call from him during his visit to England, and he again thanked me for the advice I had given him. Indeed, he had learned in the States that what I had told him was absolutely correct. As you know, Bill has become a successful aviation writer in this country. To my knowledge, he has never mentioned Burnelli in any of his articles or books, particularly with regard to stealth airplanes and the presently projected jumbos. I hold no grievance against him, for his situation is the same as any other writer who must toe the party line to survive in this country. It is a sad commentary on the incestuous relationship between the aviation monopolists and the media. But it does exist.

I am enclosing copies of recent correspondence between the Burnelli Company and the Boeing Company, the Department of Defense and NASA, which will enable you to place the Burnelli conspiracy into proper perspective.

We feel that it is incumbent upon POPULAR SCIENCE to publish the enclosed comparison of the McDonnell Douglas cover plane with the 1951 Burnelli model, so that your readers are made aware of the whole truth. In fact, we all could have been flying superior, safer and less costly Burnelli Megaplane forerunners at least 30 years ago, had it not been for the atrocious Burnelli conspiracy.

Thank you and best regards.

Enclosures

CHG/mf

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