Empire of the Clouds: When Britains Aircraft Ruled the World

In 1945, Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, and intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex. Just what was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war moment when innovative new British aircraft made their debut, and pilots were the rock stars of the age?James Hamilton-Paterson captures that season of glory in a compelling book that fuses his own memories of being a schoolboy plane spotter with a ruefully realistic history of British decline - its loss of self confidence and power. It is the story of great and charismatic machines and the men who flew them: heroes such as Bill Waterton, Neville Duke, John Derry and Bill Beaumont who took inconceivable risks, so that we could fly without a second thought.

Title - Empire of the Clouds: When Britains Aircraft Ruled the World

Edition -

Author -

ISBN 13 - 9780571272181

Imprint - Faber & Faber

Publisher - Faber & Faber

Date Published - 07/10/2010

Prize -

No. of pages - 288

Binding Type - Paperback

Dimensions - 153 x 233 x mm

Weight - g

Languages - English