Description

This volume, one part of an ambitious but never completed dozen volume series on the history of aviation, offers a very different take on a half century of aviation technology progress. Rather than arranging the material by country, type of airplane, or even chronologically, the editor and his contributors take a topical overview approach, providing a broad survey of major technical trends. As with the other books in the series, this is is a book of analysis and synthesis that summarizes a vast amount of information in as concise a form as possible. Illustrated with black-and-white photos, chapters review changing technology in the supersonic era, extending range, extending aircraft altitude capabilities, aircraft structures, propulsion, systems and avionics, advanced aircraft in production, the growing role of computers and CAD/CAM technologies in aircraft design, and possible future supersonic transports.