Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Leading Edgeby Walter J. Boyne
None Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. no reviews | add a review
A history of flight that concentrates on the contributions of both test pilots and engineers. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)629.13Technology Engineering and allied operations Other Branches Aviation Aviation engineeringLC ClassificationRatingAverage: No ratings.Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
Boyne surveys innovation from the Lilienthal glider experiments down to the present day of military, commercial and general aviation…the "artist-inventors" themselves as well as their inventions, many of whom are unknown to the public: Charles Kirkham, a seminal figure in the development of the aircraft engine, for instance, and Frank Whittle, who conceived the idea of combining a turbine with a compressor to create the jet engine. Several pages are given over to the ultralight movement, including Paul MacCready's gossamer-winged, human-powered vehicle.
An unfolding drama of success and failure, of the excitement of inventors at work, of the lure and lust for faster, lighter, and stronger airplanes, The Leading Edge is a remarkable history of the new ideas in aviation technology and the gains we have realized because of them.