Customer Reviews:
 History and Technology of Jets September 20, 2008
Theseus (US of A)
The technology and the history-of-the-technology of jets from the mid 1930's to 1948. Scholarly, technical, historical, and a bit out of breath in tone.
This is a book very much of its time -- published in 1948, an era of victory, certainly, but also one of unease. With the United States aware of the fact that it did not lead in the application of jet airplanes during WWII, the authors look back at the accomplishments of the Germans and the British while looking forward in the hopes that the United States can dominate this new phase of aviation. This is not propaganda, but it does have a gung-ho optimism and an interest in the affairs of American corporations that are typical of America in the post-war period.
While this book is loaded with information about the nuts and bolts of aviation, it is not designed to simply be an engineering manual.
Details: cloth over hardback boards on glossy paper, 232 pp, about 50 black and white illustrations: photographs, schematics, charts, technical drawings, portraits. 2 over-sized foldout illustrations: Cross-Section drawing of a Junkers Jumo-004 Turbojet and a cross-section of a BMW-003.
Table of Contents
1. The Weapon Behind the Revolution
2. How the Nazis Beat Us To It
3. The British Were Early, Too
4. The AAF and American Industry Pull a Miracle
5. The Navy-industry Team Takes the Field
6. A Big Boost From Government Research
7. Tough Problems Still to Be Whipped
8. New Horizons for Flight -- A Glimpse of the Future
Appendices
Chronology of Aircraft Gas-turbine Developments (pp 203-212)
Glossy of Technical Terms and Abbreviations (pp. 213-216)
Bibliography (pp. 217-228)
Index (pp. 229-232)
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