FASTER, FURTHER, HIGHER: Leading-edge Aviation Technology since 1945 (Putnam's History of Aircraft) [Hardcover]

Philip Jarrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003 | Series: Putnam's History of Aircraft

This volume concentrates on the key developments that prepared the way for the sophisticated civil and military aeroplanes of the 21st century. The first chapter makes a study of the way transonic and supersonic aerodynamics have shaped aeroplane design. The next essay explains how aerodynamic developments have led to technological developments in the cockpit to keep pace with the faster speeds and higher altitudes possible. The third major step in post-war aircraft technology came with the development of in-flight refuelling technologies, and the next chapter covers this. Succeeding chapters cover such technological developments as the use of new materials, the need to make jet engines more fuel efficient, developments in avionics and the problems of mass-producing high-technology aircraft. The Series Editor Philip Jarrett, is a freelance author, editor and consultant specialiszing in aviation. He has been editor of Aeroplane, the Royal Aeronautical Society's newspaper, assistant editor of Aeroplane Monthly, and production editor of Flight International.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Aeronautical (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851778763
• ISBN-13: 978-0851778761
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,485,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a pretty dustjacket picture, August 3, 2011

By 

RAF engine fitter (rtd.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: FASTER, FURTHER, HIGHER: Leading-edge Aviation Technology since 1945 (Putnam's History of Aircraft) (Hardcover)

This book explained a few things to me, mainly the phenomenon of control reversal that caught out high-mach dives with piston-engined aircraft. Well worth reading for all sorts of reasons, and maybe should be revised for the latest era. I have a technical training in the RAF in engines and found I could understand it all. As the market is saturated with books with little or no technical or scientific content it is nice to read this one which attempts to explain many things without baffling the reader with science.

4.0 out of 5 stars Improving the airplane since 1945, April 10, 2010

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Chris Sterling "Castle maven" (Annandale, VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: FASTER, FURTHER, HIGHER: Leading-edge Aviation Technology since 1945 (Putnam's History of Aircraft) (Hardcover)

This volume, one part of an ambitious but never completed dozen volume series on the history of aviation, offers a very different take on a half century of aviation technology progress. Rather than arranging the material by country, type of airplane, or even chronologically, Jarrett and his contributors take a topical overview approach, providing a broad survey of major technical trends. As with the other books in the series, this is serious writing intended for serious readers---by which I mean this is not a "fan" book as are so many books about military aircraft. It is a book of analysis and synthesis that summarizes a vast amount of information in as concise a form as possible. Illustrated with black-and-white photos, chapters review changing technology in the supersonic era, extending range, extending aircraft altitude capabilities, aircraft structures, propulsion, systems and avionics, advanced aircraft in production, the growing role of computers and CAD/CAM technologies in aircraft design, and possible future supersonic transports. Though the book is now nearly a decade old, it holds up markedly well--as do the other five published volumes of "Putnam's History of Aircraft." Would that the series had been completed!