Inside the Stealth Bomber: The B-2 Story [Hardcover]

Bill Scott (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By the senior engineering editor for Aviation Week & Space Technology , this informative book takes readers behind the scenes as it traces the tightly classified B-2 Advanced Technology Bomber Program from conception to drawing board, from construction to taxi-testing and finally to its 1989 maiden flight in California. Scott explains the bat-winged Stealth's ability to evade detection, describing how the bomber is essentially a revival of Jack Northrup's original Flying Wing design and the prototype YB-49 that was canceled by the Air Force soon after WW II. The author predicts that congressional debate over the need for, cost and viability of the B-2 will continue indefinitely and he complains about the wasteful oversight procedures imposed on the program. The book provides a rare look at America's weapons-acquisition system, which, according to Scott, works just fine. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

There is no question that the author has all the qualifications to assess complex aircraft like the B-2 Stealth bomber. A skilled aviation reporter for some of the most respected publications in the field, he has a fine feel for the challenge and excitement of advanced aeronautical projects. His book is a fascinating analysis of the bomber's early development, with special emphasis on the test flying of the B-2. There are extensive interviews with the pilots themselves. But there is little analysis of the technology, or of the pressing issues of cost-effectiveness that have followed the program. For general readers interested in aviation.
- Roger Bilstein, Univ. of Houston-Clear Lake
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Aero Publishers; 1st edition (July 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830638229
• ISBN-13: 978-0830638222
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William B. (Bill) Scott is a full-time author (www.williambscott.com). He retired as the Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology, following a 22-year career with the international magazine. He also served as Senior National Editor in Washington, and in Avionics and Senior Engineering Editor positions in Los Angeles. He covered advanced aerospace and weapons technology, business, flight testing and military operations, wrote more than 2,500 stories for the magazine, and received 17 editorial awards. To date, he's coauthored three books: Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III (fiction); Inside the Stealth Bomber: The B-2 Story (nonfiction), and a Space Wars sequel, entitled Counterspace: The Next Hours of World War III, which was released on Oct. 13, 2009.

Bill is a Flight Test Engineer (FTE) graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and a licensed commercial pilot with instrument and multiengine ratings. In 12 years of military and civilian flight testing, plus evaluating aircraft for Aviation Week over 22 years, he's logged approximately 2,000 hours of flight time on 80 aircraft types. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University-Sacramento.

During a nine-year Air Force career, Bill served as aircrew on classified airborne-sampling missions, collecting nuclear debris by flying through radioactive clouds; an electronics engineering officer at the National Security Agency, developing space communications security systems for satellites; and an instrumentation and flight test engineer on U.S. Air Force fighter and transport aircraft development programs. He also served as a civilian FTE/program manager for three aerospace companies: General Dynamics (F-16 Full Scale Development), Falcon Jet Corp. (Coast Guard HU-25A development and certification), and Tracor Flight Systems Inc. (Canadair Challenger development and certification, plus numerous fighter, transport and helicopter test programs).

Bill and his wife, Linda, live in Colorado Springs. They have two grown sons, Erik and Kevin. Unfortunately, Erik was killed through a senseless, horrific tragedy in July 2010. As a result, Bill is now writing a new novel, entitled "The Permit," based on the events of Erik's murder. Although "The Permit" is fiction, readers of the first nine chapters say it's closer to the truth than what Las Vegas, NV, citizens have been told by "officials." The book should be completed in 2011.