Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry (Ausa) [Paperback]

George J. Marrett (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ausa | Publication Date: October 15, 2008

As a test pilot at Hughes Aircraft for twenty years, Marrett tested the most sophisticated airborne radar and missiles ever designed for Navy and Air Force aircraft. This memoir recounts his skill as a pilot and puts readers in his cockpit during the F-15, F-16, and F-18 weapons systems flyoff, and during the firing of a Mach 3 Phoenix missile from an F-14A Tomcat at a Soviet MiG Foxbat target. Marrett relives stories of espionage, deadly crashes, and the development of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber radar. He combines the thrill of test flying with the humor and tragedy that is the everyday life of a test pilot.

Editorial Reviews

Review

?There has been no finer way of learning what happened throughout aviation history than by having the story told by one who was there. While numerous aviation writers are pilots who "put you right into the cockpit," author and long-time WINGS & AIRPOWER contributor George Marrett chooses to put the reader right into history itself by weaving colorful tales of his aerial exploits or those of people who touched the very history he writes about. Having flown as both an Air Force test pilot and combat pilot in Southeast Asia before being hired as a civilian test pilot for the Hughes Aircraft Company, Marrett takes his readers on a journey back in time....How fortunate he was to have been able to partake of all that history, and how fortunate we are to now be able to read all about it. It is classic aviation storytelling at its best!?-Airpower

Review

"The author's life-long love affair with aviation culminates in his test pilot years with Hughes Aircraft Company. George Marrett reveals the human side of testing the high-tech weapons systems of the Cold War. His informative writing is enhanced by a fine sense of humor and irony that he found in the urgent climate of that era. His Air Force fighter pilot training, honed by duties as an interceptor pilot (defending San Francisco) followed by aerial combat in the Vietnam conflict, uniquely qualified Mr. Marrett to test the future generation of weapons … many of which have seen their post-Cold War payoff in today's mideast battlefields."

(

Paul H. Kennard, former Group Vice President, Hughes Aircraft Company

) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press; 1st Naval Institute Press Pbk. Ed edition (October 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591145120
• ISBN-13: 978-1591145127
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Reading About A Dangerous Business, November 2, 2006

By 

Robert Dickson "Former Pilot" (Morro Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry (Praeger Security International) (Hardcover)

A great story about the testing of missles and the intergration of these missiles with the fighter aircraft of the era. George Marrett's style of writing makes for easy reading. He takes a highly technical subject and puts it into interesting narration for the layman to understand and enjoy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History of unheralded heroes of the Cold War, September 27, 2008

By 

J. Rudy "Major, USAF" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry (Praeger Security International) (Hardcover)

George Marrett delivers another stunning book on the experiences of American test pilots, drawing on his own personal experiences from the Golden Age of flight testing. This is the first of two books Marrett has written about his experiences as a test pilot. The other book "Contrails Over the Mojave" follows his career in the Air Force. This book details his experiences working for the Hughes Aircraft Corporation.

Colonel John P. Stapp, who traveled 623 mph while testing rocket sleds in 1954, once said "The Cold War was won by aerospace companies that stayed well ahead of the Soviet Union in aircraft and weapons design and the civilian and military test pilots who risked their lives daily in the skies above Southern California to test the equipment. These test pilots often ended as unheralded casualties, the testing deaths of the war." Marrett agreed and began to write this story.

"Testing Death" details the development of many of the many Hughes weapons systems that can still be found on US military aircraft thirty years after their first development. The projects include such mainstays in the US arsenal as the Phoenix and Maverick missiles, to the predecessor of today's highly classified terrain mapping radars currently found on some American military aircraft. The other key element of the book focuses on the human element of flight testing. Marrett writes of his emotion highlights of his career; his despair of losing a friend in an aircraft accident; and his strange mix of anger and empathy for a friend who sells out his country because he has fallen on hard times.

This Hughes system-centric perspective of the book is the main difference from "Contrails Over the Mojave" which focuses on the actual flight testing of the Century series of aircraft. "Contrails Over the Mojave" also follows Marrett's Air Force career. There is some minor duplication of material between the books, however some very small duplication is necessary to provided adequate background information for each story which must stand on its own.

Any story related to the Hughes Aircraft Company will certainly have vignettes of the reclusive millionaire. Included with the accounts of Hughes' infamy, are witticisms about Hughes used to open each chapter. I personally do not know much about Hughes, but Marrett has certainly piqued my curiosity to learn more.

Marrett's easy-flowing writing style will appeal to most readers, although some parts of the book contain the word "Hughes" far too many times for a short passage. However, this is a minor annoyance for what is another outstanding book from George Marrett on the golden age of flight testing. My thanks to George Marrett for sharing his story.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Flight Testing, March 19, 2008

By 

Fred L. Adams (Tehachapi CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry (Praeger Security International) (Hardcover)

Take it from a Former (33 years worth) Hughes Aircraft Company System Test Engineer who has worked directly with the author as well as most of the people he quotes. This book tells it like it is and in a very readable manner. He has a novelists way of presenting the truth!