This book is an engineering history that traces the main path of airplane development from the early observations of bird flight to modern jet transports, in pilots language by an engineer who was fortunate enough to be in the middle of the transition to jets.
Author William Cook was born in West Texas in 1913. He earned his Master's Degree from M.I.T. in 1938 and went to work for The Boeing Company in July of that year. Among his career highlights he was in charge of High-Speed Wind Tunnel Design, B-29 Assistant Project Engineer, XB-47 Aerodynamics Unit Chief, and eventually Chief of Technical Staff in the Transport Division.
