TESTING TO THE LIMITS: VOLUME ONE

Every aircraft program starts with a leap of faith. No matter how sophisticated the technology, the moment the test pilot initiates take-off is one of tension and hope. Since 1910 the British aircraft industry has relied on test pilots to take the dreams of a designer to success on the production line. Over the decades the risks have lessened, but aircrew still pay the ultimate price in the name of progress. The first flight of a prototype is just one step in a long and painstaking process that puts a fighter into squadron service, or an airliner on its inaugural schedule. Thousands of hours of testing, modifying, validating and perfecting lie ahead. Then it is a case of testing the production line--each brand new machine presenting its own challenges before it reaches a customer. In the 1930s and especially the heydays of the 1950s and the 1960s some test pilots became household names and takes of their derring-do filled the newspapers. There were also tragedies when the nation mourned the loss of a brave aircrew and worried that Britain's position of dominance in design and technology was slipping. Today's test pilots are unsung, going about incredibly complex and demanding tasks on a daily basis, still taking calculated risks and making it all look routine. In two volumes, Testing to the Limits presents the story of Britain's aircraft industry--its turkeys and its triumphs. It pays tribute to the men who daily push the envelope to ensure that the UK is still at the forefront of aviation endeavors.