Comments: Hardcover, 192 pages, 47 color and 228 black-and-white photos
ISBN: 978-1-58007-230-2
Price: $39.95
Publisher: Specialty Press
From the publisher: Since aviation’s early years, pilots, designers, and manufacturers have sought to break world records for notoriety or technical advancement, captivating the general public. This book tells of famous record-breaking flights throughout history, with special focus on the exciting time following World War II, when new speed, altitude, and endurance records were broken on an almost-routine basis. Supplementing these stories are detailed explanations of the technological innovations that made those record-breaking aircraft possible.
From swept wings to afterburning turbojet engines and “Coke-bottle” fuselages to high-altitude pressure suits, aviation progress has always been measured with breakthrough advances in the technology of flight. This book, written by a former crewmember of the triple-sonic SR-71 Blackbird, takes you through the annals of aviation history with spellbinding stories of world-record flights and explanations of how advanced technology played a pivotal role in making these records happen.
Illustrated with archival photographs and technical illustrations, this book explains in detailed but easy-to-understand terms how specific advances in aircraft design, such as power plants, aerodynamics, flight-control systems, instrumentation, and life-support systems, led to ever-improved record-breaking aircraft. The appendix serves as a handy reference guide that documents world speed, altitude, and distance records as well as the legendary aircraft and the pilots who flew them.
FSM says: It’s all here: aviation highlights from the Wright Flyer to the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk. Don’t belly up to any bets without having this coffee-table book handy.