Flight Testing at Edwards: Flight Test Engineers' Stories 1946-1975

Dedication by Chuck Yeager.

The time period from the end of World War II to the mid 1970s is considered the golden age of flight test. With war's end, America found itself with a large supply of young, experienced pilots, a bustling manufacturing capability, a robust economy, and a talented cadre of test engineers who were eager to push the known limits of flight. After the sound barrier was broken in the fall of 1947, the momentum of aviation progress was unstoppable. Year after year, model after model, the industry made huge technological leaps forward, often above the dry lakebeds of Edwards Air Force Base.

The hustle and bustle -- and occasionaly tragedy -- of those go-go years wrought a camaraderie among the flight test engineers at Edwards lasting nearly half a century. Now, for the first time, those flight test engineers have authored the touching, funny, poignant, and personal stories behind this exciting period. These stories explore the human side of technology, where real people laugh, cry, admire each other's remarkable achievements, and -- sadly -- mourn each other's losses. It is a fascinating insider's look into one of aviation's secret worlds -- that of the flight test engineer.