Flying the Edge: The Making of Navy Test Pilots [Hardcover]

George C. Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1992

A bestselling author provides a dramatic firsthand account of a year spent "inching into the unknown" with the 100th test pilot class at Naval Air Test Center Patuxent River.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Washington Post journalist Wilson spent most of 1991 with the 100th test-pilot class at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, flying in a variety of high-tech planes with students and instructors, learning how to determine whether an aircraft that accomplished its contract specs and could land safely on a carrier deck was worthy of purchase by the Navy. In a series of exhilarating passages he conveys what it's like to fly these fantastic machines, including the "sweetly responsive" F/A-18, the Navy's most technically advanced aircraft. In an interview, former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman discusses the Pentagon's efforts toward keeping the Air Force as the nation's principal striking arm and "getting the Navy out of the strike business." Lehman believes naval aviation in general is undergoing a crisis of confidence because the Bush administration is the most anti-naval administration since Truman's. For his part, Wilson comes out strong in regard to women in combat, recommending that the armed forces welcome them "all the way aboard" by assigning them to tactical missions in the next war. Not as focused as his bestselling Supercarrier , Wilson's sprawling discussion of Navy test pilots and the history behind them will be of interest mainly to aviation buffs. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Test pilots have always been viewed as daring aviators "pushing the envelope" of aircraft limits. Wilson (military writer, The Washington Post and author of Supercarrier , LJ 8/86) was allowed to participate in a navy test pilot class, including actual test flights. The result is a journalistic, anecdotal account that includes brief biographies of each member of the class, training methods, the careers of the test pilots after their graduation, the future of test pilots in the navy and test pilot class, including actual test flights. Wilson also gives an overview of the history of navy test pilots. The nu merous quotations may be too much for some readers. Aviation enthusiasts, however, will probably enjoy Wilson's style and examination of the special men and women who test the aircraft. Recommended for public libraries with large aviation collections.
- Dennis L. Noble, Washington State Lib., Clallam Bay Corrections Ctr.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr; 1ST edition (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557509255
• ISBN-13: 978-1557509253
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing, October 31, 1999

By 

Steve Davies ([e-mail]) (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flying the Edge: The Making of Navy Test Pilots (Hardcover)

Whilst the author had unprecedented access to an entire course as aviators earned their Test Pilot certification, i was really dissapointed by the very vague nature in which the book actually details 'flying on the edge'. With the exception of 2 -3 chapters there is very little detail behind the actual flying part of the course. Their exists even less detail on the thory and the author does not even go to the trouble of actually informing the reader of what the course elements are. There is little detail on rotary wing operations also.

I wanted to read about test flying and test pilots. Instead the author provides mere glimpses of the flying and seems happier to discuss the politics of test flying and the Navy - he gives a whole chapter to the Tailhook scandal which has nothing to do with 'flying the edge' in my opinion.

If you want hard core flying and test flying action look somewhere else

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pilots beware, February 27, 2002

By 

John Joss (Los Altos, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flying the Edge: The Making of Navy Test Pilots (Hardcover)

There is no point in discussing the many problems with this book in any depth, because one would have to write a book about them. Suffice it to say that Wilson, clearly a non pilot, had all the benefits of access based on his position and made the least of them. Readers who are interested in finding out more about Naval Aviation and its inner truths should read Paul Gillcrist's terrific FEET WET, and his follow-on VULTURE'S ROW. 'Gator' is the real thing, a PAX graduate and immensely experienced in the cockpit, from piston-engined aircraft of the '50s to the F-14, and his books are everthing that EDGE isn't.
It's not a matter of 'close, but no cigar.' EDGE isn't even close. Sorry, Wilson, no sale (anyone want my copy, which is being used alternately as a coffee-mug coaster and door stop?).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent description of life at PAX and Navy flight test, April 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Flying the Edge: The Making of Navy Test Pilots (Hardcover)

As a Navy engineer working at Pax, a graduate of the Navy's Test Pilot School and a person intimately involved in the flight testing of the Navy's premier fighter aircraft, I read this book with great interest. Several of my friends were mentioned in his previous book, 'Supercarrier' and I knew several others who attended TPS while Mr. Wilson was there. This book captured the very essence of life at Pax without the embellishment typically found in storytelling. The lives of the engineers and test pilots seem simply ordinary to those who work at Pax, yet George Wilson finds a way to capture the flavor and excitement of our work and present it in an incredibly readable and accurate way. This was an excellent book and I recommend it to all who have an interest in aviation and especially, the field of flight test