Supersonic Flight [Hardcover]

Richard Hallion (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1997

Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Chuck Yeager's first supersonic flight, this edition includes a new introduction and new photographs. The book is a history of the struggle to break the sound barrier. Starting with an introduction co-written by astronaut Michael Collins and a prologue relating the fatal attempt by Britain's Geoffrey de Havilland to break the sound barrier in 1946, the book describes: the basic problems of supersonic flight; the story of the Bell X-1 in which "Chuck" Yeager successfully broke the sound barrier in 1947; and the Douglas D-558, the first aircraft to reach twice the speed of sound.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: Brassey's UK; Rev Sub edition (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857532538
• ISBN-13: 978-1857532531
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,824,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars High Speed Flight, June 11, 2001

By 

Robert Woodbury (Scarborough, WA Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Supersonic Flight (Hardcover)

Richard Hallion is the master of Aviation History. This book looks closely at the USAF's X-1 program and the US Navy's D-558 program and examines the NACA's roll in shaping the avaition research being undertaken at that time.

An interesting historical overview that gives insight in to how the USAF and Navy went about avaition research in their own ways. The book also covers areas of the much less topical D-558, a progam that was well and trully overshadowed by the Bell X-1.