Tex Johnston: Jet-Age Test Pilot

By A.M. Johnston

Book Overview

One of America's most daring and accomplished test pilots, Tex Johnston flew the first US jet airplanes and, in a career spanning the 1930s through the 1970s, helped create the jet age at such pioneering aersospace companies as Bell Aircraft and Boeing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560989319
• ISBN13: 9781560989318
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great historical autobiography of a legend

This is a great historical accounting of the life of an American aviation pioneer. Tex Johnston's life was a colorful mix of barnstorming through the flight testing and air racing of WWII fighters, and finally the experimental flight testing of the Bell X-1 (prior to Chuck Yeager) and the Boeing aircraft when the jet age was underway. The book is a little scant in his accounting of the famous (infamous?) barrell rolls of the 707 prototype over Lake Washington, which is disappointing. Overall, a great book and must reading for any fan of the early years of experimental flight testing.