On the Frontier: Experimental Flight at NASA Dryden

by Richard P. Hallion, Michael H. Gorn

The most comprehensive and authoritative history of flight-testing experimental air- and spacecraft This little-known classic history of flight-testing the X-Planes is reborn—sweepingly revised and updated with new and recently released information. Aviation enthusiasts will savor the most detailed account available of record-setting aircraft like the X-1 and X-15, flown by Chuck Yeager and other legends, as well as all the cutting edge NASA and Defense Department programs that perfected the aeronautical concepts and technology used in U.S. military, space, and commercial craft. World-renowned Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert is the setting for the exciting, dangerous, and sometimes deadly job of testing the world’s most exotic aircraft. Authors Hallion and Gorn, two of America’s top aerospace historians, focus on the unique relationship between test pilots and their machines. A completely updated and reinterpreted text, three new chapters, dozens of rare photographs, and the complete statistical record of nearly six decades of testing make this required reading for anyone interested in manned flight.

Genres: Science

554 pages, Hardcover

First published April 17, 2003

About the author

Richard P. Hallion is Senior Adviser for Air and Space Issues, Directorate for Security, Counterintelligence and Special Programs Oversight, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.