Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland was one of the world's true pioneers of powered flight, a man as important to Britain in aviation terms as the Wright brothers were to America. From humble beginnings, he went on to develop some of the finest aircraft to see action during the First World War, before going on to create the illustrious company that bore his name. All of this began in his youth when, without experience, plans or instructions, he embarked on the ambitious task of not only building his very first flying machine, but also constructing the engine to power it. This book explores the influences and milestones of his early years before going on to examine his company, The De Havilland Aircraft Company Limited, in detail. Amongst the momentous machines that he had a hand in creating were the Gipsy Moth and Tiger Moth - two iconic aircraft types destined to set a variety of aviation records whilst being piloted by de Havilland himself. Another highlight of the company's history saw the esteemed aviatrix Amy Johnson fly solo from England to Australia in a Gipsy Moth in 1930\. The high-performance designs and monocoque wooden construction methods passed through the supremely elegant DH.91 Albatross into the Mosquito. The company then followed up these successes with the high-performing Hornet fighter, which pioneered the use of metal-wood and metal-metal bonding techniques, eventually resulting in the world's first jet airliner, the fabulous Comet. Every one of De Havilland's products are listed and recorded in detail here, as are all the designs that never left the drawing board and the products of De Havilland's companies in Australia and Canada. Fully illustrated throughout, this volume is sure to be highly prized amongst serious collectors.

This book presents a little-known aspect of America's aircraft development of World War II in emphasizing unique and non-production aircraft or modifications for the purpose of research and experimentation in support of aircraft development, advancing technology, or meeting narrow combat needs. It describes some important areas of American aviation weapons maturation under the pressure of war with emphasis on advanced technology and experimental aircraft configurations. The great value of the work is illumination of little known or minimally documented projects that significantly advanced the science of aeronautics, propulsion, aircraft systems, and ordnance, but did not go into production. Each chapter introduces another topic by examining the state-of-the-art at the beginning of the war, advantages pursued, and results achieved during the conflict. This last is the vehicle to examine the secret modifications or experiments that are little known. Consequently, this is an important single-source for a fascinating and diverse collection of wartime efforts never before brought together under a single cover. The "war stories" are those of military staffs, engineering teams, and test pilots struggling against short schedules and tight resource constraints to push the bounds of technology. These epic and sometimes life-threatening endeavors were as vital as actual combat operations.

During World War II, the aviation industry stood among the largest industrial branches of the Third Reich. The manufacture of aircraft and air force equipment represented approximately 40% of total German war production and involved the employment of two million people. Thus, aviation factories became the place where scores of people experienced the war. Based on German records, Allied intelligence reports, and eyewitness reports, this study explores the military, political, scientific, and social aspects of Germany's World War II aviation industry, such as production, research and development, Allied attacks, the use of foreign workers and slave labor, and daily life and working conditions in the factories. Testimony from Holocaust survivors who worked in the factories adds a strong human component to the technological facade of the German aviation industry, providing a compelling new perspective on the history of the Third Reich.

Scotland has a worldwide reputation for launching some of the greatest ships ever built, but far less is known about our pioneering work on aviation. Yet in the great industrial cities and remote islands across the country, men and women risked their reputations, resources and lives to advance experiments in flight. Before airliners crossed the Atlantic Ocean and bombers secretly flew into the NATO airbase at Machrihanish, pioneers of aviation worked in the unlikely surroundings of Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow among other places. Their humble flying crafts, made with wood and canvas, would become the luxurious jet-engined aircraft of today. Including the first flight over Everest, the construction of the most northerly airship station in mainland Britain and the experience of civilians and pilots during the Clydebank Blitz of 1941, Scotland's Wings is a glimpse into the dramatic and sometimes controversial adventures within Scottish aeronautics. In Scotland's Wings, Robert Jeffrey tells a fascinating history, highlighting innovators whose ideas heralded the modern age of transport and revealing how the airfields of previous years will once again be used to progress into a daring new age of travel.

The book offers a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted matters that arise in the process of financing commercial aircraft. It reviews the different topics on a high-level basis, and then explains the terminology used for each particular area of specialization.

In the years after World War II, the airline stewardess became one of the most celebrated symbols of American womanhood. Stewardesses appeared on magazine covers, on lecture circuits, and in ad campaigns for everything from milk to cigarettes. Airlines enlisted them to pose for publicity shots, mingle with international dignitaries, and even serve (in sequined minidresses) as the official hostesses at Richard Nixon's inaugural ball. Embodying mainstream America's perfect woman, the stewardess was an ambassador of femininity and the American way both at home and abroad. Young, beautiful, unmarried, intelligent, charming, and nurturing, she inspired young girls everywhere to set their sights on the sky. In The Jet Sex, Victoria Vantoch explores in rich detail how multiple forces-business strategy, advertising, race, sexuality, and Cold War politics-cultivated an image of the stewardess that reflected America's vision of itself, from the wholesome girl-next-door of the 1940s to the cosmopolitan glamour girl of the Jet Age to the sexy playmate of the 1960s. Though airlines marketed her as the consummate hostess-an expert at pampering her mostly male passengers, while mixing martinis and allaying their fears of flying-she bridged the gap between the idealized 1950s housewife and the emerging "working woman." On the international stage, this select cadre of women served as ambassadors of their nation in the propaganda clashes of the Cold War. The stylish Pucci-clad American stewardess represented the United States as middle class and consumer oriented-hallmarks of capitalism's success and a stark contrast to her counterpart at Aeroflot, the Soviet national airline. As the apotheosis of feminine charm and American careerism, the stewardess subtly bucked traditional gender roles and paved the way for the women's movement. Drawing on industry archives and hundreds of interviews, this vibrant cultural history offers a fresh perspective on the sweeping changes in twentieth-century American life.

Sand, Planes and Submarines is an unlikely title for a book about the role two small towns far from the sea played in the First World War. Yet this extraordinary account tells how Leighton Buzzard and Linslade provided the means to shorten the war. Without the sand, the big guns could not have been made for the Front; the planes allowed the Royal Flying Corps to take on the superior German air force; and the submarine nets protected not only the British fleet but also the French, Italians, Americans and Russians. The two towns were changed dramatically by the war. They ceased to be the playground of the rich from London. The army requisitioned the hundreds of thoroughbred horses that had been used by the aristocracy to hunt with the Rothschilds. Among these larger themes there are many personal stories like that of the Linslade postman and his horse, Bluebell, who took part in the last great cavalry charge of the war.

Much of the fascination which Soviet aircraft and its associated aerospace industry holds for the analyst, enthusiast or ordinary member of the public, stems from the thick fog of secrecy that enveloped the industry throughout the 'Cold War' until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990/91. Until then details which in case of Western designs could be found from the nearest reference book was in the case of Russian aircraft often a matter of conjecture and an inaccurate article written by a western journalist. This author has been fortunate to have obtained much original and previously unpublished information from the former Soviet Union for this unique volume on the history of the Soviet Aircraft Industry Since 1909. It gives the reader a clear understanding of the unique characteristics of Soviet-designed aircraft, in particular military types that at times caused great concern in the West with regards to the technical advances inherent in their design. The book is as much a history of the USSR as it is its, aerospace industry, culminating as it does with President Putin's Russian Federation.

Whether drinking Red Bull, relieving chronic pain with oxycodone, or experimenting with Ecstasy, Americans participate in a culture of self-medication, using psychoactive substances to enhance or manage our moods. A "drug-free America" seems to be a fantasyland that most people don't want to inhabit. High: Drugs, Desire, and a Nation of Users asks fundamental questions about US drug policies and social norms. Why do we endorse the use of some drugs and criminalize others? Why do we accept the necessity of a doctor-prescribed opiate but not the same thing bought off the street? This divided approach shapes public policy, the justice system, research, social services, and health care. And despite the decades-old war on drugs, drug use remains relatively unchanged. Ingrid Walker speaks to the silencing effects of both criminalization and medicalization, incorporating first-person narratives to show a wide variety of user experiences with drugs. By challenging current thinking about drugs and users, Walker calls for a next wave of drug policy reform in the United States, beginning with recognizing the full spectrum of drug use practices.

In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex.How did Britain so lose the plot that today there is not a single aircraft manufacturer of any significance in the country? What became of the great industry of de Havilland or Handley Page? And what was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war moment when innovative new British aircraft made their debut, and pilots were the rock stars of the age?James Hamilton-Paterson captures that season of glory in a compelling book that fuses his own memories of being a schoolboy plane spotter with a ruefully realistic history of British decline - its loss of self confidence and power. It is the story of great and charismatic machines and the men who flew them: heroes such as Bill Waterton, Neville Duke, John Derry and Bill Beaumont who took inconceivable risks, so that we could fly without a second thought.

Handley Page began manufacturing aeroplanes in a small factory in Barking, Essex in 1909. Handley Page Limited was founded by Frederick Handley Page (later Sir Frederick) as the United Kingdom's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. Sir Frederick declined to allow his company to be merged into the two large 'forced marriages' of aircraft manufacturing companies in the 1960s. It failed to survive alone, and went into voluntary liquidation and ceased to exist in 1970. During the First World War Handley Page produced a series of heavy bombers for the Royal Navy to bomb the German Zeppelin yards, with the ultimate intent of bombing Berlin in revenge for the Zeppelin attacks on London. Handley Page had been asked by the Admiralty to produce a "bloody paralyser of an aeroplane". These aircraft included the O/100 of 1915, the O/400 of 1918 and the four-engined V/1500 with the range to reach Berlin. The V/1500 only just reached operational service as the war ended in 1918. The real success of the Company came during the Second World War with the magnificent and robust Halifax bomber. In all, more than 6,000 of them were produced, or more than 40 per cent of Britain's total heavy-bomber power. In the bombing operations alone, approximately 76,000 sorties were flown and nearly a quarter of a million tons of bombs were dropped on to enemy targets. Bomber Command had no less than seventy-six Halifax squadrons in action at the time of its peak strength.

First published in 1956, but still relevant and thought-provoking today, this book is an absolute revelation on test flying with the British aircraft organisations and manufacturers in the 1950s. Written from the pilots viewpoint, with refreshing candour and honesty which allegedly cost him his job at the Daily Express this account details what really went on behind the scenes in the defence world. Waterton pulls no punches in recounting the non co-operation of civil servants and designers in improving/altering recognised faults (often minor) when developing aircraft to the cost of lives lost. Mainly centring on his work with the mighty Gloster Meteor and the Javelin interceptors, this is an astonishing insight into the workings of the aircraft industry. Uncomfortable reading for many, it was seen by his supporters as a wake-up call at a time when British ingenuity and prowess were being overtaken by the Americans and Russians.

IHS Jane's All the World's Aircraft: Unmanned provides comprehensive reference material on unmanned aerial vehicles, targets and drones under development, in production or in service around the world. IHS Jane's All the World's Aircraft: Unmanned delivers reliable insight into unmanned air platforms under development, in production and in service around the world, providing military and security organizations with trusted independent technical profiles to support the development and maintenance of effective long-term airborne capability advantages, and providing A&D businesses with market intelligence to drive successful business development, strategy and product development activity.

The Rolls-Royce Merlin is the most recognisable aero engine in the world. It powered the Battle of Britain aircraft, the Spitfire and Hurricane, as they defended the shores of Britain against the Luftwaffe, foiling Hitler's plans to invade in summer 1940. It also powered the Lancasters and Halifaxes of Bomber Command as they went on their missions of destruction to the German heartland. And the 'wooden wonder', the Mosquito, was powered by the Merlin, its pinpoint bombing accuracy and reconnaissance work proving vital to the war effort. For the Americans, the Merlin was the power plant of the Mustang escort fighter that protected the US Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29 Super Fortress bombers on their daylight raids to the enemy. The P-51 was also used in the North African, Mediterranean and Pacific theatres. So the Merlin worked day and night to secure the eventual Allied victory. It has rightfully been described as the most significant aircraft piston engine in history and in the twenty-first century its distinctive 'drone' can still be heard over England as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight take to the air on special occasions - most recently on the centenary of the RAF - with its Lancaster leading the Merlin-powered Spitfires and Hurricanes in formation. Retired military and commercial pilot Gordon Wilson tells the human story of the development of the engine and its operational use during the war, featuring the voices of air crew who relied on this technological tour de force.

Oh, the humanity!" Radio reporter Herbert Morrison's words on witnessing the destruction of the Hindenburg are etched in our collective memory. Yet, while the Hindenburg ,like the Titanic ,is a symbol of the technological hubris of a bygone era, we seem to have forgotten the lessons that can be learned from the infamous 1937 zeppelin disaster.Zeppelins were steerable balloons of highly flammable, explosive gas, but the sheer magic of seeing one of these behemoths afloat in the sky cast an irresistible spell over all those who saw them. In Monsters , Ed Regis explores the question of how a technology now so completely invalidated (and so fundamentally unsafe) ever managed to reach the high-risk level of development that it did. Through the story of the zeppelin's development, Regis examines the perils of what he calls pathological technologies",inventions whose sizeable risks are routinely minimized as a result of their almost mystical allure.Such foolishness is not limited to the industrial age: newer examples of pathological technologies include the US government's planned use of hydrogen bombs for large-scale geoengineering projects the phenomenally risky, expensive, and ultimately abandoned Superconducting Super Collider and the exotic interstellar propulsion systems proposed for DARPA's present-day 100 Year Starship project. In case after case, the romantic appeal of foolishly ambitious technologies has blinded us to their shortcomings, dangers, and costs.Both a history of technological folly and a powerful cautionary tale for future technologies and other grandiose schemes, Monsters is essential reading for experts and citizens hoping to see new technologies through clear eyes.

The birth of the Ninth Squadron (Novena Escuadrilla) of the Spanish Navy Fleet Air Arm (Flotilla de Aeronaves in short FLOAN) took place in 1987 with the receipt of the first three AV-8B aircraft from McDonnell Douglas factory in St. Louis on October 6 of that year. Deliveries continued for a total of 12 AV-8B Harrier IIs (numbered 01- 901 to 01-912) commonly known as “Day Attack” to differentiate them from later models Night Attack and AV-8B+ or “Radar” Aircraft. On January 29, 1996 the first AV-8B Plus 01-914 joined the squadron. Then continued deliveries up to 01-921, which makes a total of eight AV-8B+ that greatly enhanced the operational capabilities of the squadron. On 1 October 2000 the unit received TAV-8B 01-922, which is the only two-seater with the squadron and together with the simulator allows it to be totally autonomous in the adaptation to training new pilots just graduated from the U.S Naval Aviator pipeline. On July 30, 2003 were received from the now Boeing factory in Saint Louis the first two AV-8B to be remanufactured as AV-8B+ numbered 01-923 and 01-924. On 21 November the same year the last three planes in the remanufacturing programme, 01-925, 01-926 and 01-927 were ferried to Rota Naval Sation flown by Novena Escuadrilla pilots.

Whether drinking Red Bull, relieving chronic pain with oxycodone, or experimenting with Ecstasy, Americans participate in a culture of self-medication, using psychoactive substances to enhance or manage our moods. A "drug-free America" seems to be a fantasyland that most people don't want to inhabit. High: Drugs, Desire, and a Nation of Users asks fundamental questions about US drug policies and social norms. Why do we endorse the use of some drugs and criminalize others? Why do we accept the necessity of a doctor-prescribed opiate but not the same thing bought off the street? This divided approach shapes public policy, the justice system, research, social services, and health care. And despite the decades-old war on drugs, drug use remains relatively unchanged. Ingrid Walker speaks to the silencing effects of both criminalization and medicalization, incorporating first-person narratives to show a wide variety of user experiences with drugs. By challenging current thinking about drugs and users, Walker calls for a next wave of drug policy reform in the United States, beginning with recognizing the full spectrum of drug use practices.

Used increasingly in telecommunications, scientific research, surveillance, and meteorology, satellites rely heavily on complex onboard control systems. This book explains the basic theory of spacecraft dynamics and control and the practical aspects of controlling a satellite. The emphasis is on analyzing and solving real-world engineering problems. Among the topics covered are orbital dynamics, attitude dynamics, gravity gradient stabilization, single and dual spin stabilization, attitude maneuvers, attitude stabilization, and structural dynamics and liquid sloshing.

If, in 2021, more than 40 years after the accident that occurred on 27 June 1980, we are still talking about a "mystery", it is because in Italy they have not followed the procedure that all the countries of the world adopt in the aftermath of an aviation disaster. A technical commission is appointed, made up of experienced aviation investigators, who will tell us why the accident happened. If, in the course of the investigation, it turns out that the disaster was caused by an unlawful act against the aircraft, i.e. a bomb, bombing, air attack, missiles, etc., a judicial investigation is also launched in parallel to find out who committed the unlawful act. In any case, the two investigations must be kept separate. Not only that, but by international practice, the technical investigation must be sent to the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, in Montreal for inclusion in that organisation's database. In the case of the Ustica accident involving an Itavia DC9, which is unique in the world, an anomalous procedure was followed whereby the judicial authority, which should have been responsible only for identifying the culprit, also had the task of determining the causes of the accident. The investigation would have been very different if it had been conducted by experienced aviation safety investigators who would certainly have been able to reach a firm conclusion on the causes of the accident.

Listen to a short interview with Jeffrey A. Engel Host: Chris Gondek ] Producer: Heron & Crane

In a gripping story of international power and deception, Jeffrey Engel reveals the "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain in a new and far more competitive light. As allies, they fought communism. As rivals, they locked horns over which would lead the Cold War fight. In the quest for sovereignty and hegemony, one important key was airpower, which created jobs, forged ties with the developing world, and, perhaps most importantly in a nuclear world, ensured military superiority.

Only the United States and Britain were capable of supplying the post-war world's ravenous appetite for aircraft. The Americans hoped to use this dominance as a bludgeon not only against the Soviets and Chinese, but also against any ally that deviated from Washington's rigid brand of anticommunism. Eager to repair an economy shattered by war and never as committed to unflinching anticommunism as their American allies, the British hoped to sell planes even beyond the Iron Curtain, reaping profits, improving East-West relations, and garnering the strength to withstand American hegemony.

Engel traces the bitter fights between these intimate allies from Europe to Latin America to Asia as each sought control over the sale of aircraft and technology throughout the world. The Anglo-American competition for aviation supremacy affected the global balance of power and the fates of developing nations such as India, Pakistan, and China. But without aviation, Engel argues, Britain would never have had the strength to function as a brake upon American power, the way trusted allies should.

IHS Jane's Flight Avionics provides detailed technical and program profiles of electronic systems for military and civil aircraft. IHS Jane's Flight Avionics delivers comprehensive insight into aircraft control and related systems under development, in production and in service around the world, providing military and security organizations with reliable information to support key capability analysis, planning and procurement activities, and providing A&D businesses with market intelligence to support effective business development, strategy and product development activity.

'The astoundingly well reported and beautifully told story of the downfall of what was once a great American company. A must-read' Bethany McLean, bestselling author of The Smartest Guys in the Room 'Compelling and richly reported, Flying Blind is about so much more than the sad decline of Boeing and the tragic mistakes that led to the 737 Max disaster. It's also the urgent story of how the almighty profit motive supplanted a culture of engineering excellence in boardrooms across America' Brad Stone, bestselling author of The Everything Store The definitive exposé of how Boeing put profit before passengers, leading to the devastating loss of life in the 737 MAX crashes and the downfall of an American business giant In examining the history of the 737, Flying Blind explores how Boeing's new management degraded a highly-regarded plane with cost-focused mandates and skimped on testing in the race to match a competing plane from Airbus. How Boeing outsourced software work to poorly paid graduates in India and convinced the US Federal Aviation Authority to put the MAX into service without requiring pilots to undergo simulator training, and how ultimately these failures resulted in the deaths of 346 Boeing passengers. Framed around the 737 MAX crashes, Flying Blind is the definitive exposé that for the first time tells the larger, decades-long story of how a corrupt corporate culture paved the way for a cataclysm that cost lives. 'Vividly written and meticulously researched, Flying Blind is a story everyone - every consumer, every citizen, every worker in every industry - needs to read' Diana B. Henriques, New York Times bestselling author of The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust 'A gripping narrative and required reading for anyone who wants to understand how one of America's mightiest corporations veered so badly off course' Sheelah Kolhatkar, New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author of Black Edge

"When I went to work for Lockheed-Georgia Company in September of 1952 I had no idea that this would end up being my life's work." With these words, Harry Hudson, the first African American supervisor at Lockheed Aircraft's Georgia facility, begins his account of a thirty-six-year career that spanned the postwar civil rights movement and the Cold War. Hudson was not a civil rights activist, yet he knew he was helping to break down racial barriers that had long confined African Americans to lower-skilled, nonsupervisory jobs. His previously unpublished memoir is an inside account of both the racial integration of corporate America and the struggles common to anyone climbing the postwar corporate ladder. At Lockheed-Georgia, Hudson went on to become the first black supervisor to manage an integrated crew and then the first black purchasing agent. There were other "firsts" along the path to these achievements, and Working for Equality is rich in details of Hudson's work on the assembly line and in the back office. In both circumstances, he contended with being not only a black man but a light-skinned black man as he dealt with production goals, personnel disputes, and other workday challenges. Randall Patton's introduction places Hudson's story within the broader struggle of workplace desegregation in America. Although Hudson is frank about his experiences in a predominantly white workforce, Patton notes that he remained "an organization man" who "expressed pride in his contributions to Lockheed [and] the nation's defense effort."

The NEW edition of Aviation and the Role of Government, by Harry Lawrence of the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, features revisions of almost all chapters, several completely rewritten chapters, as well as new statutes and cases added throughout. Aviation and the Role of Government includes: updates to cover all significant aviation related government actions and transportation events including NextGen, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Treaties, Alliances, Space Developments and others an expanded history of Pratt & Whitney and its contribution to American world air superiority by the development of the radial engine the ongoing contest over slot allocations and ownership between the government and the airlines patent litigation history and resolution during WWI by the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss Aviation and the Role of Government chronicles the involvement of government in the evolution of air transportation, including passing mention of early governmental involvement in prior modes of transport, such as the maritime and railroad industries, which formed the foundation of aviation.