EDWARDS: Flight Test Center Of The USAF

Dry, barren Antelope Valley in southeastern California is the scene of this fine little picture of one of our greatest aviation test centers. Home of the X-series jet and rocket flights, scene of some of the most dramatic moments in modern times as flying craft zoom up into the skies and break world speed records, Edwards in fact is one of the best subjects one could imagine for aviation and science fans. The author does a complete job. He shows the Muroc Dry Lake area as it was when first settled. He tells how the Army took it over as an air station as early as 1933 (300,000 acres worth), how the first jet planes were tested there in 1942, how countless bomber pilots were trained to blast Japanese shipping there at the same time, and how the base later was named after a test pilot killed in a crash in 1948. The famous men of Edwards---Scott Crossfield, Tommy Benefield, Chuck-Yeager, a dozen others--- pass through the pages. The reader also is witness to the complex labs and experimental ranges, the school and living facilities, the administrative mind which makes up Edwards. Record-breaking flights are also briefly described or otherwise commented upon. Very readable.