July 2008

July 2008

SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History by Dan Linehan (Zenith Press, 2008, ISBN: 9780760331880). Written by an aviation writer who witnessed its launch, SpaceShipOne chronicles the development of the world’s first commercial manned space program. Included are hundreds of photos, a full account of the history makers who got SS1 into the air and a foreward by the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

Learning Beyond The License (Sporty’s, 2008, ID# E430A, E100A). Available exclusively as a video download, Learning Beyond the License demonstrates how to use modern resources to become a safer, more proficient pilot. The first two programs, WAAS Approaches: Garmin 430W and WAAS Approaches: Garmin G1000, show instrument pilots how to fly RNAV approaches with confidence.

Contrails Over The Mojave by George J. Marrett (Naval Institute Press, 2008, ISBN: 9781591145110). George Marrett flew 188 missions in the Douglas A-1 Skyraider in Vietnam and spent 25 years testing military aircraft. In his new book, Marrett describes life as a space cadet during the “Golden Age of jet flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base,” where he trained under Chuck Yeager.

Through Blue Skies To Hell: America’s “Bloody 100th” In The Air War Over Germany by Edward M. Sion (Casemate, 2008, ISBN: 9781932033670). Providing a comprehensive look at the air war over Europe during WWII, this is both a mission-by-mission diary of a member of the Bloody 100th Bomb Group and an analysis of the effectiveness of U.S. strategy. It follows a young U.S. airman who flew 35 missions over Germany.

Broken Arrow: America’s First Lost Nuclear Weapon by Norman S. Leach (Red Deer Press, 2008, ISBN: 9780889953482). On February 13, 1950, a B-36 carrying an atomic bomb crashed in northern British Columbia while conducting a simulated bombing run. It was presumed to rest deep in the Pacific, but the wreckage was found years later on a mountain in B.C. This book sheds light on one of the great mysteries of the Cold War and the first time in history that a nuclear weapon was lost.