Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation »

T. A. HEPPENHEIMER, Ph.D., an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has written extensively on aerospace, business, and the history of technology. He is a frequent contributor to magazines such as Discover, Forbes, Nature, Omni, and American Heritage, and has authored five previous books, including Colonies in Space and Toward Distant Suns.

a gripping, in-depth look at how America's $200 billion aviation industry took flight

"To understand the industry, this is necessary reading." —The Miami Herald

"With the precision of a scientist, a good reporter's marshaling of disparate facts, and the vigor of a natural storyteller, Heppenheimer offers an absorbing narrative." —Richard Snow, Editor American Heritage.

"Tom Heppenheimer tells a fascinating story." — R. T. Jones Inventor of the swept wing.

"An important addition to the history of technology as well as business." — Publishers Weekly.

"An airworthy briefing firmly grounded in the applied science and allied realities that permit air transport of passengers and cargo over long distances and high speeds." — Kirkus Reviews.

Publishers Weekly

This third entry in the Sloan Technology series is an important addition to the history of technology as well as business. Heppenheimer (Colonies in Space) is as gifted at explaining the development of the jet engine in terms a nonspecialist can follow as he is at tracing the rise and triumph of the aircraft industry over ground transport. U.S. commercial flight got off the ground in the 1920s principally because Washington subsidized it for carrying airmail. Government assistance has continued up to the present as such major manufacturers as Boeing, Pratt and Whitney and GE have converted advances financed by the Air Force to building aircraft for the commercial market. Heppenheimer's accounts of the collapse of Pan Am, the demise of Eastern, the enormous gamble made by Boeing in the 1970s, the abandonment of plans for an American answer to the Concorde and the still-reverberating 1978 deregulation demonstrate some of the ``unintended consequences'' that are the focus of this informative study. Illustrations. (Sept.)

First Stirrings.
In Lindbergh's Path.
The Watershed.
This New Fire.
Like the Red Queen.
A Rising of Eagles.
A Time of Unreadiness.
Toward New Horizons.
Passage Through Gethsemane.
Search for Safety.
European Renaissance.
Shake-Up and Shakeout.
Afterword: A Look Ahead.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.