Beyond Blue Skies: The Rocket Plane Programs That Led to the Space Age (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight)

Being a fan of the University of Nebraska Press’ Outward Odyssey series, I found Petty’s kickoff work a welcome addition to A People’s History of Spaceflight. The early rocketplane research flights offer an evolutionary lineage toward later space vehicles, and prior to this book, these developmental flights have seemed lacking in popular accounts. With newer rocketplanes currently seeking commercial viability, it is enlightening to recognize the very first time humans successfully sought some of these engineering configurations and extreme flight envelops. The first rocketplane trips to space, much harder to achieve and control back then, can still sound surprisingly modern.Petty’s style is approachable, comfortable language, explaining aerospace terminology with helpful comparisons for a range of backgrounds. Conversational engineering familiarity will help the reader, but his descriptions work very well for those who may not commonly use terms like “ablative coatings,” “effective dihedrals,” or “roll coupling.” He uses anecdotes effectively, sprinkling a few lesser-heard, peculiar, or humorous stories into the mix, and this certainly enhances the friendly narrative.Petty’s strength here is staying on-track with the People’s History series mission of offering “how it felt.” Those familiar with Wolfe’s The Right Stuff of four decades ago may see the same desire to strengthen our knowledge of the humans inside the machines, and the author gives us several glances into the pilots’ mindsets. Yes, we want to know what zooming to insane altitude ceilings was like, or how you survived getting your pressure helmet repeatedly smacked against the rocketplane’s canopy. But also, where were they coming from, personally and professionally? Did they have familiar family distractions? In a group of traditional overachieving aviators with predominantly wartime military backgrounds, did they have personality clashes among themselves and with their bosses? The challenge of precision flying in a time without digital assistance, and with far more frequent mechanical mishaps, demanded coolness in spite of such.Perhaps the best section in the book, for those interested in flight test and pre-Shuttle development, is the book’s third part: Lifting Bodies. Apart from knowing the famous film clip used in the Six Million Dollar Man TV series introduction, readers might find this section the most surprising. Both powered and unpowered glide versions of these curious craft make for some exciting, “hairy” scenes, and the author puts us right in the cockpit.Petty brings us a exceptional first book, and a very entertaining look at pioneering, edge-of-space flight research work. This book is a must-have addition to an aerospace enthusiast's history collection.

The U of M wind tunnel was silent the day I was at orientation at North Campus at University of Michigan. I touched base with Lockheed "Skunk Works" in 1965 choosing a firm from a campus publication. This book showed me the stretch using external tanks I kind of puzzled over in it's real life era as I worked with FX performance data. The F-12 and then the SR-71 haunted those who wanted AWACS first to be Air Defense Command and then TAC. I flew from the Moffet dirigible hangar in a P-3C Update 1 to harden my experience with Lockheed's view. My real view was to the Convair "Centaur" rocket stage of Atlas after spending time with the SKYLAB conversion of the Apollo Saturn S-IV-B with men from China Lake one day just before it was launched. Mach 7 was the goal of the subject of this book.

It’s a great thing to remember the first steps, the preparation for the big jumps that get all the headlines. Don’t forget the guys who worked, sometimes unheralded, in the high desert.

I kept a Wikipedia page open to look up all the aircraft and people mentioned in the text, but it would be handier if these had simply been put in the book itself.

This book is amazing. I am 50 year 'veteran' of the aerospace industry and grew up following the X-15 and space programs. I learned things I had never heard/read before. I highly recommend this book.

I can never get enough aviation history, and the stories behind these early experimental aircraft are especially interesting. I learned a lot from this book. It stays in my library.

If you like technical histories, read this one. It’s not a book I’d point random friends toward, but it made me happy.

Can't wait to get into this book, I know it will be very informative !!

Very well written, the book covers not only the X-15 (subject of many more books out there), but also tells the story of the lesser known, but by no means less important, rocket planes such as the X-2, the D-558-II and the HL-10. It doesn't focus too much on techical aspects of the airplanes, bus tells a story that is nice to read, also about the people involved and the main events. It shows how every new rocket plane was built over the knowledge gained with the previous ones. The achievements and setbacks are all there. The book brings us closer to those pioneers. Recommended reading!

For many, including myself, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo define the space age, after came The Space Shuttle, a futuristic transportation system that helped build the ISS and paved the way for amazing science that is helping us advance as we speak. But before the Shuttle learnt to fly and then glide home came the mechanics, engineers and pilots that dared to build and fly rocket planes.Having read Beyond Blue Skies by Chris Petty I have learnt a whole new history of how humans broke the bonds of earth, pushing higher and faster than ever before. What happened between 1946 and 1975 at Edwards is truly remarkable.This book is a must read for anyone interested in space travel, space shuttle or just a great story.

Loved the book - Chris has a rare gift here for presenting the highly technical world of an experimental engineering programme in an engaging story - with the addition of fun little stories etc (like when Chuck Yaeger was flying chase and angled his plane so help shield the X cockpit from the sun). A 'must read'.