Empire of the Clouds: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World (Paperback)
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Short Description for Empire of the Clouds 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? In this book, the author 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.
Full description- Publisher: Faber and Faber
- Published: 05 May 2011
- Format: Paperback 400 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Aviation Manufacturing Industry | Miscellaneous Items | British & Irish History | Industrialisation & Industrial History | Aircraft
- ISBN 13: 9780571247950 ISBN 10: 0571247954
- Sales rank: 49,741
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Full description for Empire of the Clouds
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, an 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.
