THEY TAMED THE SKY

Here is a book written by someone who knows aviation and knows how to write about it dramatically. With Wright Field, in Dayton, as base of operations, the story fans out over the world to encompass aviation history. Ingells makes his accounts of scientific achievement in aviation as exciting as his descriptions of fantastic escapes from death, incredible courage in testing new equipment. Pilots, engineers, civilian experts and G.I.'s are the heroes of his story. Even the barnyard aces -- animals who acted as stand-ins for men in high altitude flying tests -- rate a chapter. The book is filled with revelations of developments made during the war:- development of air tunnels, serial armament, parachutes, radar and VHF, serial color photography, automatic pilots, jet propulsion, improvements in design and equipment, the proving grounds that played so vital a part in our bombing raids. Ingells goes on to tell of the effect of airplane development in industry, how new designs, new appliances used during the war are being adapted for use in homes. A particularly revealing chapter tells of the serial progress made by Germany and reported on by scientists now in custody. The one weakness of the book is the author's formula for peace, showing a country bristling with armament.