{"product_id":"contrails-over-the-mojave-the-golden-age-of-jet-flight-testing-at-edwards-air-force-base-9781612514277","title":"Contrails Over the Mojave: The Golden Age of Jet Flight Testing at Edwards Air Force Base","description":"\u003ci\u003eIn Contrails over the Mojave\u003c\/i\u003e George Marrett takes off where Tom Wolfe's \u003ci\u003eThe Right Stuff\u003c\/i\u003e ended in 1963. Marrett started the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB only two weeks after the school's commander, Col. Chuck Yeager, ejected from a Lockheed NF-104 trying to set a world altitude record. He describes life as a space cadet experiencing 15 Gs in a human centrifuge, zero-G maneuvers in a KC-135 Vomit Comet, and a flight to 80,000 feet in the F-104A Starfighter. After graduating from Yeager's Charm School, he was assigned to the Fighter Branch of Flight Test Operations, where he flew the latest fighter aircraft and chased other test aircraft as they set world speed and altitude records.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarrett takes readers into the cockpit as he goes vertical in a T-38 Talon, completes high-G maneuvers in an F-4C Phantom, and conducts wet-runway landing tests in the accident-prone F-111A Aardvark. He writes about Col. Silver Fox Stephens setting a world speed record in the YF-12 Blackbird and Bob Gilliland testing speed stalls in the SR-71 spy plane, but he also relives stories of crashes that killed test pilot friends. He recounts dead-sticking a T-38 to a landing on Rogers Dry Lake after a twin-engine failure and conducting dangerous tail hook barrier testing in a fighter jet without a canopy. A mysterious UFO sighting in the night sky above the Mojave Desert, known as The Edwards Encounter, also receives Marrett's attention. Whether the author is assessing a new aircraft's performance or describing the experiences of test pilots as they routinely faced the possibility of death, this look at the golden age of flight testing both thrills and informs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-2844073\"\u003eGeorge J. Marrett\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e US Naval Institute Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/15\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781612514277\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1612514278\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS027140\"\u003eMilitary | Aviation \u0026amp; Space\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS027110\"\u003eMilitary | United States\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036060\"\u003eUnited States | 20th Century\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"US Naval Institute Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42664252539117,"sku":"9781612514277","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_026134b2-e9a6-431b-88da-69067da4cfd7.jpg?v=1649403167","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/contrails-over-the-mojave-the-golden-age-of-jet-flight-testing-at-edwards-air-force-base-9781612514277","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}