Customer Reviews

X-Plane Crashes: Exploring Experimental, Rocket Plane & Spycraft Incidents, Accidents & Crash Sites

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Authors Peter W. Merlin and Tony Moore have given us an accessible and engaging first person account of their adventures in locating the crash sites of experimental airplanes in the Edwards AFB area. They have uncovered the story behind each crash with details on the airplane type, the specific airplane, how they found the site and what they found there. They are respectful of the airmen who were lost in some of these crashes. The then and now photos are particularly fascinating.

Specialty Press has been really turning out the aviation titles. These are all fine looking books, filled with informative writing and terrific photos. Somehow, though, they are a bit of a slog to get through. Even though I enjoy these kinds of books and have bought many of the Specialty Press titles, I find that my eyes glaze over a bit when reading them.

But not this time!

This book sparkles and is highly recommended.

There are very many books about historical aircraft, especially X planes. Books about how the crafts were created, what they did, etc. But very few books, maybe only this one, describe how they met their ends.

Peter Merlin and Tony Moore go into great detail about what brought these birds down and how they were clever enough to find their current resting places in the American Southwest. There are two appendices which contain complete crash lists for Edwards AFB, as well as the ever mysterious Groom Lake/Area 51 facility.

The book itself has a substantial amount to read (so you get a lot for your money), and the graphic layout is excellent. There are some very unusual historical photos that I had never seen before.

To anyone interested in hunting for these sorts of things on their own, the authors give a lot of pointers and ideas for research. No, they don't tell you exactly where the crash sites are, as that's considered a major faux pas in this odd, quirky hobby (like asking a fisherman where his secret fishing hole is!). But there are plenty of clues, pictures and background data that should get amateur hunters on their way.

I have received this book for Christmas and have not managed yet to put it down.

I had the pleasure to meet with the authors and was priviledged at the time to see some of the artifacts retrieved. It is even nicer now to read about it and to realize how the field of aviation archeology is a very difficult one.

Kuddos for a great book! Superb photos not seen before, a plus!
Jean-Louis Delezenne

"X-Plane Crashes" is an outstanding combination of aviation history, piloting tales and detective work that is sure to appeal to anyone interested in the story of the accomplishments and failures involved in flight testing advanced experimental aircraft. The fast-paced, readable text focuses on crashes on or near the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The world's premier high-speed, high-altitude flight test facility, the base had previously been called Muroc Army Air Field, but was renamed in 1949 in honor of Glen W. Edwards, a pilot who died in one of the crashes described in the book.

For each of the many crash sites that they visited, authors Peter W. Merlin and Tony Moore tell the development and test history of the ill-fated aircraft. Then they describe why it crashed, in as much detail as possible, and enumerate the remains they found at the site. To sum up their efforts in one word, I must say that it is all about perseverance. They often had to visit certain search areas over a span of many years before they finally found the actual crash sites. Having searched for errant missiles while on a flight test team at White Sands Missile Range, I appreciate how hard it is to locate small man-made objects in square miles of desert terrain. To their credit, Merlin and Moore don't make the job seem easier than it is. I found particularly fascinating their descriptions of how they used crash-site photos, old newspaper articles, interviews with surviving flight crew members and even discussions with local residents to try to localize their searches.

In my opinion, "X-Plane Crashes" has one major shortcoming: there are no maps in it. Being involved in trying to preserve the 1953 crash site of a B-36 bomber in El Paso's Franklin Mountains, I realize there is a fine line between keeping a crash site "secret" to forestall casual vandalism and providing enough details for the truly dedicated searcher to find it. I think maps of the crash locations that Merlin and Moore visited would have added immensely to their book. In these days of "Google Earth," they could have marked the sites on maps or satellite photographs at a scale sufficient to provide geographic context while still requiring a searcher to make some effort to find them. The lack of such maps is the only reason I give "X-Plane Crashes" a four-star rating instead of five.

X-planes have always been an exciting part of aviation history. Unfortunately, many of the breakthroughs and records X-planes have set came at a cost of aircraft and sometimes aircrew. This marvelous, well-illustrated 2008 Specialty Press release by authors Peter Merlin and Tony Moore chronicle all the mishaps that have been part and parcel of X-plane flights. It's great history and a great read.

First off, the two authors are well-qualified to pen such an account, Merlin being the historian for the Dryden Flight Center and Moore, a Museum Assistant at the Flight Test Center Museum. Known as the "X-Hunters," the two obviously share a love of X-planes especially their demises. Their expertise shows in every page!

After a brief description of how they got hooked on the subject, Merlin and Moore relate the development of the Research Airplane Program, the birth of the X-plane designation and the history of Edwards AFB. The following chapters go into detail on the early birds - X-1, X-1A, X-1B and X-1D - and fliers named Yeager and Apt, some 'legendary' crashes like the XP-80A and the first YF4H-1, the tragic XB-70/F-104 midair, the ZEL experiments utilizing F-100s, Chuck Yeager's NF-104A crash, 'black aircraft' crashes (U-2/A-12/F-117/etc). and so on. The book concludes with a 28-page Muroc/Edwards AFB listing of crashes and an Area 51 crash list. There is a tremendous amount of information - and illustrations - crammed into the book's 160 pages!

And those hundreds of b&w and color illustrations, especially the 'then and now' crash site scenes are, to borrow Mr. Spock's favorite adjective, "fascinating!"

I would have given X-PLANE CRASHES five stars but for two lapses. I kept wondering exactly where all those birds were crashing; some sort of crash site maps should have been included. More importantly, the book has no index. Given the dozens of pilots, aircraft, bases, etc. covered in the book, that was a big goof.

Those criticisms aside, X-PLANE CRASHES is a must-read for anyone interested in those aircraft and airmen who pushed the boundaries in so many ways and sometimes paid for that with their lives. Recommended.

This book is a unique way of documenting the stories of the goings on at Edwards AFB. The book is well researched and written. It's great to see that someone is documenting some of these tales, and more amazingly that parts of these aircraft were found after such a long time! Great then/now pictures give the reader some appreciation as to how hard finding some of these crash sites must be.

Highly recommended.

This is a book for those who like aviation and the CSI tv series.You get to learn something about the aircraft in question and then you get to read about the efforts involved in finding its crash site and view what, if any, evidence remains.The authors give a good bit of detail without going too deep,which is fine for the average reader,however the hardcore aviation enthusiast may find the subject matter a little weak in some areas.

This year I excavated 5 X-Plane crash sites, fulfilling a 20 year dream. I purchased this book after my adventure. The pictures and site descriptions took me back to those wonderful days I spent in the Mojave Desert. It is an excellent reference book, one every X-Plane fan should have. The authors don't tell you how to get to the sites fearing they will be compromised. I left them exactly as found. The pieces I recovered are displayed for all to see and will eventually be donated to a museum.