JET PIONEERS

Jet Pioneers' theme is more the romance of engineering than of flight. almost entirely of masculine interest and with even that curtailed by an absolutely endless discussion of engine types, plane designs, and flight characteristics. ully half the book goes by in hymns to jet pioneers (engineers), until finally jets begin to be used in World War II (against Germany's V-1 rockets which de-imated London). As a fighter the jet did not become useful until the Korean War, then several American jet aces began knocking off the slower Red Chinese MIGs over the Yalu River. The story of the jet begins in Germany with an inspired young physicist trying to enlist the interest of an aircraft maker in 1936. When they eventually produce the plane, nobody wants to buy the horrifying thing, not even Hitler. Meanwhile, Britain produces a jet and the U.S. asks to copy it. Then the U.S. pulls ahead in the jet race. After WWII, Curtis LeMay builds a SAC jet-bomber group against everyone's advice. Today, experimental jets fly over 4,000 mph, but the glamour of rocketry has eclipsed the jet. Next step: the ""space fighter-jet"". Question Left Hanging. Will SAC then ask for a space jet-bomber group? Recommended for Air Force libraries only.