Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet (Centennial of Flight signed limited edition)

Limited edition, number 118 of 3680 copies. Signed by four key individuals: (1) the first man to fly the SR-71, Robert Gilliland; (2) the man who flew the final speed record flight across America 26 years later, Ed Yeilding; (3) author and SR-71 pilot Brian Shul; and (4) his backseater Walt Watson, co-author of The Untouchables and the only black officer ever to fly in the SR-71 program. Limited to 3680 copies, that oddly specific number being a direct nod to the extreme capabilities of the aircraft and Brian Shul's personal history in the cockpit: Mach 3.68 was the highest top speed Brian Shul ever officially reached while piloting the SR-71 Blackbird. This 2003 edition is the second edition of this book first published in 1992. This revised edition is an "extraordinary work that outshines the original on all fronts" (Flight Books Review by William Orr, Military Historian, May 2002). This edition is now artistically printed in a horizontal landscape format, enabling full frame viewing of all those horizontal photos that were so popular in the original. In this edition, Shul has included only the very best of the photographs from the original, including some new ones seen for the first time. In addition to his own prized photographs, Shul has included in the book selected images from the private collection of famed Lockheed photographer Eric Schulzinger, making this the definitive SR-71 photo album. The text too, has been expanded and in some places rewritten for better clarity. Additionally, some new stories and sections have been added, seamlessly keeping the same flavor and charm of the original and giving the book an added twenty pages. "Those who enjoyed reading the first book will simply fall in love with this one. It is lavishly printed in a large format and just has more of all the things that made the original a favorite with everyone who read it" (William Orr). 168 pages, color illustrations. Oblong quarto. Cloth-bound with gold-edged pages. Book only; lacks the clamshell box, COA, and embroidered emblem with which it was issued. Very good condition. Mild shelfwear and fading to covers. Spot of soil on the title page and underside of the embossed limitation stamp. Shallow dent to fore edge.…