Testing Early Jets: Compressibility and the Supersonic Era

Roland Beamont is one of the most experiences and highly-rated test pilots of the post-war era. In this book he outlines the significance of developments in early jets. Beamont is well placed to make such assessments. As chief test pilot, he made first flights on fourteen new-type aircraft. He was test pilot on many of the first and second generation jet fighters and bombers, both British and American, as well as the first British supersonic aircraft. The core or the book is made up of the author's flight test reports on such aircraft as the Gloster Meteor, the North American B45, The English Electric Canberra, the English Electric Lightning and Britain's first supersonic bomber, the TSR2, a project which was cancelled before the aircraft went into production. In conclusion, the author looks to a future in which he sees supersonic flight playing an ever-increasing role, especially in the field of military aviation.