CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. IX PREFACE TO SIXTH EDITION le PART 1. SUPERSONIC AND HIGH-ALTITUDE FLYING 3 Introductory survey of the problems of flight in the transonic and supersonic regions. Constitu- tion of atmosphere. Pressure, density, tempera- ture effects. Speed of sound. Mach numbers. Fastest flights. Air compressibility. Sound waves and shock waves. Stability and control at high speed. High-altitude flying. Sonic ceiling. Sonic "bangs" and their potentialities as a weapon of warfare. 2. DESIGN FOR SPEED 25 (1) ENGINES Limitations of piston engine and airscrew. Theory and development of jet propulsion. Thrust augmentation. Turbo-jet. Turbo-prop. Rocket. Ram-jet. Fuels and fuel mixtures. Problems of fuel storage, handling, and safety. Review of selection of engines embodying different principles. (n) AIRCRAFI' Aerodynamics with particular reference to super­ sonic flight. Evolution of modern aircraft design. Reducing drag, delaying compressibility effects. Wing shapes: straight, swept-back, delta, crescent, v vi CONTENTS PAGE aero-isoclinic. Structural stresses. Materials. The plastic wing. Landing at speed. The "rubber deck." Reverse thrust. Vertical take-off and landing. Powered controls. The flying tail. (m) PILOT Physiological effects of high-speed and high­ altitude flying. Atmosphere. Pressure. Tempera­ ture. "G". Pressure suits, pressure cabins, G-suits. The problem of heat. Acceleration and centrifugal limitations. Flight testing in the supersonic regions. 3. DESIGN FOR USE 99 The compromise between the ideal theoretical aircraft and practical considerations. The stage by stage design of representative types of modern jet bombers, fighters, and civil airliners. 4. THINGS TO COME 119 Future development in design. Exploration of the upper air and speeds beyond that of sound. A 'nest' of aircraft? The gap between aeroplane and missile. The reality of time as a fourth dimension. Conclusion. INDEX . ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE The world's first supersonic aircraft, the rocket- powered Bell X-I 4 Douglas Skyrocket, after release from the bomb-bay of a Superfortress 4 F. 86 D, the all-weather version of the Sabre 4 De Havilland 108 5 De Havilland 110 5 Vickers Supermarine Swift 5 Britain's first jet-propelled aircraft, the Gloster-Whittle E. 28 20 The first delta-shaped aircraft to fly, the Convair 7002 20 Avro 707 B 21 Handley Page Victor 2 I Avro Vulcan 36 Gloster Javelin 37 Vickers Valiant 37 De Havilland Comet, the world's first jet-liner 52 Vickers Viscount, the world's first propeller-turbine aircraft 52 Hawker Hunter, Britain's first supersonic fighter to go into production for the R.A.F. 53 Hawker P. I072 fitted with Armstrong Siddeley 'Snarler' 53 vii ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Douglas F. 4 D 68 The rocket-powered X-lA 69 Meteor adapted for prone-position piloting 69 Short Sherpa, showing rotating wing tips 84 The first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in straight and level flight, the North American F. 100 Super Sabre 85 Convair F. 102, delta-wing, all-weather, supersonic interceptor 100 Short S.B.5, incorporating wing of variable sweep 100 Douglas X-3 101 English Electric Canberra, the world's first jet bomber I 16 Lockheed XFV-I, one of the first 'VTO' fighters 117 viii PREF ACE TO FIRST EDITION IN this Coronation year which celebrates also the fiftieth anniversary of heavier-than-air flight, we stand on the threshold of new vistas of speed, time, and space. The evolution of jet propulsion and flight fa ster than sound have brought new problems of man and machine. With them, too, is growing a new language: a vocabulary that as yet belongs to the scientist and technician, but which will develop into as much a part of our everyday speech as words like aeroplane, parachute, and flarepath have done during the past fifty years. In this book, our concern has been with the last splendid decade in the saga of flying. We have tried to tell the story of high-speed flight for the general, non-technical reader; to give him an understanding of the obstacles already fa ced and overcome, and of the problems ahead; to provide an insight into the manner in which the team of designer, aerodynami­ cist, engineer, physicist, and pilot plan the campaign for yet another conquest of the skies. Such a book would not have been possible without the co-operation of the aircraft industry and Ministry of Supply; and in addition to the individuals and the aircraft and engi­ neering firms specifically referred to in the text, we acknowledge gratefully our indebtedness to: Sir Sidney Carnrn, Director and Chief Designer, Hawker Aircraft Ltd.; Mr. S. R. Davies, Chief Designer, A. V. Roe & Co. Ltd.; Mr. James Martin, Managing Director and Chief Designer, Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd.; General Wood, D.S.A.F., and members of his staff, D.S. Embassy, London; the Librarian, Royal Aeronautical Society, London. Should the book prove of value as an introduction to a ix x P REFACE more detailed study of the subject, we commend the following from the books consulted: Jet Flight, John Grierson; Gas Turbines and Jet Propulsion, J. G. Keenan; Frontiers of Flight, George Gray; Rocket Pro­ pulsion, Eric Burgess; Principles and Practice of Aviation Medicine, Harry G. Armstrong; Physics and Medicine of the Upper Atmos­ phere, edited by C. S. White and Otis O. Benson, Jr. NEVILLE DUKE EDWARD LANCHBERY PREFACE TO SIXTH EDITION WITH the arrival of the second half-century of powered flight, we have entered upon the reality of the supersonic age. Speeds in excess of sound are no longer the restricted preserve of research aircraft. The United States has in pro­ duction the supersonic North American F.I00 Super Sabre; and Britain's first supersonic fighter, built to fly well beyond the speed of sound in straight and level flight, may be airborne before these words appear in print. News of such a fighter was first given in the White Paper on the Defence Estimates in February, 1954, when it was stated that good progress was being made with "a proper fighting machine whose speed well exceeds that of sound". Although no official details have been released at the time of writing, widely publicised foreign reports claim that this fighter is being built by English Electric, home of Britain's firstbomber, the Canberra; and these sources attribute to the new machine a speed of well over one thousand miles an hour in level flight. The "sound barrier", no longer an obstacle in the path of flight, develops now into the new problem of overcoming the threat of damage on earth as sustained supersonic flight generates sonic bangs of increasing intensity. In fact, a leading aviation authority in America foresees the mobilization of controlled sonic bangs aimed at an enemy as a weapon of PREFACE xi warfare, and has suggested the development of an aircraft designed specially for this purpose. Whilst the "sound barrier" dies as a problem of flight research, and supersonic aircraft become the production order of the day, the experimental side of aeronautical development turns to the next hurdle of the "heat barrier". In much the same way as the D.H.108, Hunter, and Sabre probed flight at the speed of sound, the new, stilletto-nosed Douglas X.3 will probably pioneer investigation into the fringe of the heat problem. The launching of the atom-powered submarine, U.S.S. Nautilus, years in advance of the anticipated schedule, has removed the prospect of atom-propelled aircraft from the field of idle, futuristic, speculation. Potentially capable of cruising round the world without surfacing, the Nautilus was planned as the first step towards the use of atomic energy for aviation; and the lessons learned in the submarine's develop­ ment are now being applied to that purpose. On the military side, Britain has announced satisfactory progress with atomic weapons and guided missiles, particu­ larly those released and controlled from manned aircraft for air to air warfare. Nothing, however, holds promise of a more revolutionary change in the pattern of flight than the news of the "VTO" fighters which, achieving a thrust greater than their weight, are designed to take off vertically and land tail down on a site no bigger than a tennis court. These, then, are but a few of the developments that have occasioned the revision of a book published only twelve months ago. Within a year the factual promise of new speeds, new wing designs, new power units, and new performances, has outdated speculation. And if, alas, the emphasis lies on American progress, it should be remembered that the United States releases news of its developments at an earlier stage than Britain, who will not admit the existence of a new aircraft until it has appeared in the sky. N.D. June, 1954 E.L. .