Customer Reviews

Wingless Flight : The Lifting Body Story (Nasa Sp, 4220)

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I've studied these vehicles for years and thought I knew a lot about them. But Dale Reed was there and does a masterful job of melding the history time line with the results of the program. There are probably only a handful of people who could have written this book which is as rich in detail and "colorful" stories as any reader could want. If you've read the story of the X-15, this is the next logical step. If you haven't, you need to to really grasp what was going on at Edwards during this time. Fascinating!

A well written book from the engineer that was at the center of this small group of specialized aerospace vehicles. While detailed and somewhat technical, the author still manages to convey the sense of personal excitement, accomplishment and, at times, frustration experienced by everyone supporting these vehicles. A must-read for anyone interested in these vehicles.

I cannot underestimate the value of this book and the rich history it tells us of the childhood of our shuttle program. This extraordinary tableau of how we got where we are is exciting and, best of all, true! In 1969 I was working for the Army on the Edwards AFB flightline when 9 of my co-workers and I were invited to the roof of the hangar "to watch the future." Dropped from a B-52 high above the Mojave desert, a gray, non-descript glider floated through the California sky and landed quietly in front of our hangar...just a few hangars away from NASA's. The Army commander of our facility said to us, "You can tell no one you saw it and you cannot discuss it amongst yourselves for a long, long time, but you are looking at the prototype of the vehicle that will take us into space." It was a memory of significant proportion and one I will never forget. It started my love of our shuttle program and 100% support of NASA. It is a must-read and then put it on the shelf with your most precious books. If you didn't love the space program before, you will fall in love now, especially with the ending of the program. What an experience; what a book! P.S. Be sure to get the DVD of BluRay set from NASA "When We Left Earth", too. It's the perfect companion for Wingless Flight. Both are GREAT for the whole family.

I worked on the X-24 lifting body spacecraft in the late 60s and am referenced in this book. Take my word for it, this a very accurate account of the early days of lifting bodies by both NASA and the USAF. I worked at the Los Angeles Air Force Station in the Space Systems Division at the time. We flight tested a 7 foot version of the X-24 (the SV-5). It was launched from Vandenburg down the Western Test Range with terminal guidance in the Kwajelein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. We then flight tested the X-24 by dropping it from a B-52 ala the X-15. Jerri Gentry was our test pilot and aced each flight test. What a trip!!!!

Dale Reed grows up in a log cabin and sees his first plane land on a lake as a teen. He falls in love, gets his pilot's license at age 16, finds his way to college and then to NASA and for over 50 years designs strange and wonderful things that change the science of flight... and on a showstring budget. Read this to learn about how we all stand on the shoulders of giants. And that planes without wings do fly!

There's a great photo of the author holding the first flying model of the M2F1 he built and tested, standing next to the M2F1! That's just one of many. The paperback edition has an update from 2005; what a treat that a program from the 1960s has such an up to date publication. If you're a junky for experimental aircraft you have to have this one.