HPM Publications
Perhaps the best way
to introduce HPM Publications is to quote the publisher (Henry
Matthews) himself:
"I started
HPM Publications in late 1994 with the objective of preserving in
book form the detailed history of experimental aircraft (or
X-planes) and test pilots. So far I have published 27 books. All
but one are the FIRST and so far ONLY books about their
respective subjects. They fill a gap in the aviation history
library and will remain useful historical reference works for
generations to come. I print only small runs, sometimes as few as
150 copies. This makes for an above-average cost per copy and
leaves no possibility of profit. Anyway, profit is not my
objective."
"HPM
Publications was established over ten years ago to preserve the
history of X-planes and test pilots. We have published the only
books about the Soviet Space Shuttle, Bell X-2, Northrop MX-324,
DH. 108, SR. 53, Gemini Paraglider, and others. In so doing, we
preserved the history of these magnificent projects."
Several of the HPM
Publications titles are now out-of-print.
Please scroll down
to see a complete listing of all of the HPM titles and their
availability status.
NEW!
NEW! NEW! NEW! NEW! NEW!
The
first two issues of "World X-Planes", a new 48-page
quarterly magazine from HPM Publications, are now available.
"World
X-Planes" is available for $12.00 per single copy (plus
postage and handling), or $50.00 for a one year subscription.
Subscribers in the U.S. will get all 4 regular issues plus one
special issue, postage included. Please contact us for non-U.S.
orders and we will provide you with the postage options for
single issues and subscriptions.
X-PLANES
BOOK Series
Matthews,
Henry. The Secret Story of the Soviet Space Shuttle -
(X-Planes Book-1). Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications.
Contents:
Early Soviet Spaceplane Projects; The Spiral Program; The VKS
Program; The VKK Program; VKK Test Flights; The Energia Launcher;
Transporting VKK Shuttles; The First Flight of Buran; Is There a
Future for the VKK?; Pilot Selections; Pilot Biographies.
Follow the
saga of the Soviet shuttle effort, from the pioneering days of
Tsiolkovsky and Zhukovsky to the rocket-powered fighters of World
War II, the Soviet Lifting Bodies and the various prototypes
which preceded Buran and MAKS-- the Russian shuttle of the
future. Take a glimpse at the top-secret ramjet-boosted Sanger
space bomber. Follow the training of the élite Soviet/Russian
shuttle test pilots. See their pictures. Read their biography.
Examine complete flight logs of manned and unmanned shuttle
testbeds.
With recently
declassified exclusive pictures, cutaways, three-view drawings,
sketches and information, the Secret Story of the Soviet Space
Shuttle is a great reference for aerospace historians and
enthusiasts alike.
Soft Cover.
100 p., photos. Sorry, Out of Stock.
Matthews,
Henry. DH. 108, First British Supersonic Aircraft - (X-Planes
Book-2). Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications.
Contents:
Sir Geoffrey de Havilland -- the man and the legacy; Beginnings
of the DH.108; Flight Testing Summary; Test Pilots; Flight Test
Reports; Flight Log (Chronology).
This is the
untold saga of the first British supersonic aircraft. Three
tailless experimental DH.108 aircraft were built. First flight
was in May 1946. On 6 September 1948, the third DH.108 became the
first British supersonic aircraft, flown by the legendary John
Derry. Tragically all three aircraft were lost in fatal
accidents, but the program's 550 sorties made a considerable
contribution to swept wing research and supersonic flight.
With official
historical documents retrieved almost by a miracle, the complete
story can be told for the first time. Several former DH.108
pilots provided invaluable archival material for this book.
The next
generation of fighter aircraft is already on the drawing boards.
Some of these may be of tailless configuration. Development would
utilize the stockpile of information that began to accumulate
half a century ago with the DH.108.
Soft Cover.
120 p., photos. OUT OF PRINT
Contents: P.1127
Origins; Engine and Airframe Design; Development;
P.1127/Kestrel Flying Techniques and Handling
Qualities; Tripartite Evaluation Squadron; Tri-service Trials in
the USA; Individual Aircraft Histories and Flight
Logs.
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier
is the only VTOL aircraft in the world to have
passed through all stages of prototype and pre-series
development to series production, and then gone on to serve
successfully in the armed forces of several nations. It
was the culmination of a flight test and development
programme which began with a forerunner aircraft, known
simply as the P.1127. This book covers the design evolution
of the P.1127 and its development to Kestrel standard, from
which the Harrier was finally derived. You will witness the
action from the front seat. You will watch the Beginnings of
the Formidable Harrier in UNPRECEDENTED DETAIL! This is
the story as told by the former Hawker experimental test pilot
who shared intensively in the project's test and
development work for its first ten years, and he bases this
account on invaluable and unpublished material from his
own archives. Now at last it can be told, FOR THE FIRST TIME, the
story of all 6 P.1127s and 9 Kestrels which paved the
way for the Harrier! The problems, the challenges, the dangers,
and finally the success!!
First Edition. Soft Cover.
120 p., photos, illus. Not
available at this time.
Contents: Origins and
Purpose; General Description; The Initial NACA Contribution;
Pilot Escape System; Early X-2 Development Work; The XLR-25
Rocket Engine; The Brief Career of X-2 46-675; The Project
Continues; The Unpowered Flights of X-2 46-674; The First Powered
Flights; The High Speed Flights; The High Altitude Flights; Last
Flight; Epilogue; The X-2 Pilots; Iven C. Kincheloe Speaks; NACA
X-2 Engineer Richard Day; Flight Test Reports; Bell Progress
Reports; Chronology.
Before the Space Shuttle,
there was the X-15, and before the X-15 there was the X-2. This
winged missile, barely wide enough to house a man but harnessing
enough power to drive a navy cruiser, went higher and faster than
any other airplane before. It extended mankind's reach toward
space and was in a way a prototype of the winged space vehicles
to follow. It was indeed the first of the spaceships and a tragic
but heroic milestone in the conquest of space.
This is its untold story,
with many declassified top secret documents, from the first
unpowered flight to the last fatal sortie -- the first one beyond
Mach 3!!!.
The book includes
never-before-seen pictures; biographies of all the X-2's pilots
and candidate pilots; seventeen flight test reports; incredibly
detailed progress reports logging the day-by-day activities of
the project at its apogee, a complete flight chronology with
every powered and unpowered flight and many captive and cancelled
flights.
The cover is by famous
aviation artist Mike Machat.
Second edition. Soft Cover.
132 p., photos, illus. $30.00
Norton, Bill. Hummingbird
- The Lockheed XV-4 VTOL Projects - (X-Planes Book-5).
Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications, 2004.
Contents: Origins and
Purpose; XV-4A Hummingbird; XV-4A Flying Program; XV-4B
Hummingbird II; XV-4B Flying Program; Pilots; Flight Log;
Specifications.
This is the exclusive, never
seen before "nuts-and-bolts" history of one of the most
obscure aerospace X-programs. It strips away the veil of secrecy
that has long shrouded Lockheed's pioneering VTOL work with the
XV-4A and XV-4B X-planes which logged a total of 175 flights,
successfully demonstrating many important aspects of VTOL flight
and technology. The two aircraft crashed and were destroyed, but
Bill Norton, a noted author of several major books on current
military aircraft, has preserved their history in full detail.
The XV-4 last flew decades ago, but has contributed to the
heritage of the most formidable generation of fighter aircraft,
the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter.
Soft Cover. 100 p., photos,
illus. Sorry, Out of Stock.
X-PLANES
FLASHBACK Series
Reeder, Jack.
Flight Evaluation by NASA Pilots of the Hawker P.1127 -
(X-Planes Flashback-1). Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications.
On 13 June
1962, NASA Langley Chief Research Pilot John P. 'Jack' Reeder
became the fourth pilot and the first non-British to fly Hawker's
P.1127 VTOL research aircraft, forerunner of the formidable
Harrier. His colleague Fred Drinkwater (NASA Ames Chief Research
Pilot) followed him in the same day and together, the two NASA
pilots logged a dozen flights on the first P.1127, registered
XP831. Their report of this evaluation, written by Reeder and
dated 24 July 1962, is published here in full, practically with
no editing. It is a unique document, and should prove greatly
relevant to anyone trying to trace NASA's important contribution
to the success story of the Harrier.
Soft Cover. 8
pages. OUT OF PRINT
X-PLANES
MONOGRAPH Series
Matthews,
Henry. Chronology of MX-324, First American Rocket Aircraft -
(X-Planes Monograph-1). Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications.
Contents:
The Origins of Project MX-365; Project MX-334; MX-334 Test
Flights; Control and Stability Flight Tests; The Rocket Flights
of MX-324; The Unique Flight of XP-79B; Flight Log; Historical
Interviews; Pilot Biographies; Specifications.
The Northrop
MX-324, the first US aircraft built from the outset for rocket
propulsion, was a flying wing of the type John Northrop
pioneered. It made its first powered flight more than half a
century ago, with Harry Crosby at the controls.
This most
secret project was only revealed in 1947, well after termination.
But although the secrecy was lifted, published accounts differed
in their coverage of this project because most official documents
were lost. There was confusion as to the real designation of the
aircraft, the number of powered and unpowered flights, the name
and number of pilots, and other aspects.
Now for the
first time, the complete story of MX-324, (and stablemates
MX-334, and XP-79B) can be told. Flight by flight, test by test,
date by date. Read the test pilot reports. See the drama unfold.
Discover the rocket wing, which paved the way for the
rocket-powered X-plane dynasty: the X-1, X-15 and the Space
Shuttle.
In July 1944,
America’s first rocket aircraft ushered in the space age at
Muroc, California. Now at last, with official historical
documents retrieved almost by a miracle, the complete story can
be told for the first time.
Soft Cover.
40 p., photos. OUT OF PRINT
Contents: Origins of
the Supersonic Program; Initial Development; Production and
Testing Summary; The Bisnovat B-5 Program; The French Version:
Arsenal 2302.
For many years, experts in
the West thought that this aircraft never existed and that it had
only flown in glides in war-time Germany as DFS 346. The truth is
that several prototypes were built in the USSR. Designated
Samolyot 346, they were flown in an ambitious but difficult
rocket research program until the early 1950s. For the FIRST
TIME, the story of this program can be told. Revealed are the
rocket flights made by Wolfgang Ziese, a German pilot in the
USSR, the rocket-powered B-5, and a little-known French version
which eventually spawned the outstanding record-breaking Griffon,
a ramjet-powered X-plane.
Second edition. Soft Cover.
48 p., photos, illus. Sorry, out of stock.
Hengeveld, Ed. Paraglider
- Land Landing for Gemini - (X-Planes Monograph-3). Beirut,
Lebanon: HPM Publications, 1998.
Contents: Beginnings;
Ryan's Flex Wing; Paresev; Paraglider; TTV; FSTV; HSTTV...
An obscure but exciting
chapter of the Gemini space program by a space flight historian
and artist.
There was a time in the early
1960s when it seemed that Gemini, Apollo, and space station
escape modules as well as the jettisoned stages of the Saturn
launcher would be equipped with inflatable wings for recovery.
The idea was outstandingly simple. Safely tucked inside the
spacecraft during the searing atmospheric reentry, an inflatable
wing would deploy in the last portion of the flight and would be
used to land the vehicle in a pre-selected area, just like a
glider. Gone would be the need for the vast recovery operation in
the ocean, and the uncertainty of landing in an undesirable
location. Unfortunately, the development of this concept into
operational hardware dragged on, and the inflatable wing faded
from the annals of space exploration. Nonetheless the concept was
truly remarkable and this book, by a dedicated space flight
historian, traces its history with unprecedented detail and is a
tribute to the test pilots and engineers involved. It is a must
for every space exploration buff.
First Edition. Soft Cover. 32
p., photos, illus. Sorry, Not Available.
X-PLANES
PICTORIAL Series
Contents: Edwards AFB;
Bell X-1; Bell X-2, Douglas X-3; Northrop X-4; Bell X-5.
Supersonic. Double-sonic.
Triple-sonic. Flying Wing. Swing Wings....
The five aircraft in this
booklet, the USAF’s first research-dedicated experimental
aircraft or X-planes, were configuration explorers which charted
new domains of flight and broke new ground in aeronautical
science. There were accidents, injuries and deaths, but every
aircraft flying today has benefited from these X-planes.
A summary of each program is
included, along with picture and biography of main project
pilots: Jack Woolams, Robert Stanley, Glen Edwards, Chalmers
Goodlin, Chuck Yeager, Arthur Murray, Frank Everest, Iven
Kincheloe, Milburn Apt, William Bridgeman, Joseph Walker, Chuck
Tucker, Scott Crossfield, Jean Ziegler, Raymond Popson.
Soft Cover. 32 p., photos.
$20.00
Contents: Origins and
Purpose; Construction, Systems and Equipment; Flight Development;
Mirage III 001 Balzac.
If the history of most
postwar research airplanes is poorly known, that of initial
prototypes of famous operational aircraft is all the more
obscure. This is particularly true of MD 550, the Mirage I. This
little delta prototype, conceived as a result of the Korean War,
bred the Mirage dynasty which has done more than any other
postwar military aircraft to place France among the world's
foremost aircraft manufacturing nations. This booklet presents
the untold story, the competition, the dazzling designs, along
with exclusive pictures and drawings.
First Edition. Soft Cover. 32
p., photos, illus. $20.00
X-PLANES
PROFILE Series
Contents: Origins and
Purpose; Construction, Systems and Equipment; The Flying
Programme; Eurofighter.
Sometime, early in the 21st
century, a new shape will be flying over Europe: Eurofighter.
Produced by Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and Spain,
Eurofighters will replace Jaguars, Tornado F.3s, upgraded F-4F
Phantoms, F-104S Starfighters and eventually perhaps the Harriers
in the air forces of these countries. Eurofighters may also
replace the F-5s and various aircraft in Norway and Greece and a
number of other countries.
The way for such an
outstanding achievement was paved by a little-heralded and now
seldom-remembered aircraft: the Experimental Aircraft Programme
(EAP) demonstrator, from which Eurofighter is derived.
Initiated as a private
venture by BAe (now BAE Systems) with the British Government only
belatedly putting in substantial amounts of money, EAP and its
Eurofighter offspring survived extremely cost-conscious
politicians, indifferent (sometimes hostile) decision-makers and
a tug-of-war with Dassault, a company fully-backed by the French
government.
It is now ten years since the
little EAP demonstrator last flew and this book is an attempt to
preserve its history. It traces its career, from its origin (Air
Staff Target 396) to the beginning then the conclusion of the
flying programme and the resulting Eurofighter. It contains
exclusive pictures of plane and test pilots, a complete flight
log of the 259 flights of the EAP demonstrator, a stunning
cutaway by Mike Badrocke and new information on the ACT Jaguar,
F-104G CCV and other projects which paved the way for EAP and
Eurofighter.
Like all HPM Publications,
this book is a collector's item and a must-buy.
First Edition. Soft Cover. 32
p., photos, color photos, illus. $20.00
Contents: Origins and
Design Development; SR.53 Characteristics; Construction and
Systems; The Flying Programme; Excerpts of the Accident
Investigations; Flight Log; Chronology; SR.177, Avro 720; SR.187;
The SR.53 Pilots.
There was a time in the late
1950s when it seemed that Britain stood at the threshold of
space. Its tool to join the space faring super powers, would have
been a sleek white delta interceptor prototype which used rocket
and jet propulsion and was named SR.53. Built by Saunders-Roe,
this little aircraft or its more powerful derivatives would have
spearheaded the construction of suborbital and orbital
air-launched spaceplanes. Its principal derivative, the SR.177,
had looked set to capture the huge interceptor market so
successfully taken by Lockheed's Starfighter. Political
shortsightedness, bad economy and a tragic fatal accident felled
this success story in the bud.
The SR.53 remains one of the
brightest achievements of British aircraft industry. For years,
its history was in limbo, with contradictions surrounding the
number of flights, the boundaries reached, the ambitious plans
drawn.
Now at last the full story of
this saga can be told, with never-published-before pictures,
complete flight log and company documents detailing the project
from conception to end, as well as recollections by project
personnel.
Peter 'Sheepy' Lamb, DSC*,
AFC, MRAeS, the third and last test pilot of the SR.53, wrote the
foreword for this book, which was reviewed and corrected by
Richard B. Stratton, chief project engineer.
For every space buff and
every x-plane enthusiast, this book is a must-buy!
Second Edition. Soft Cover.
64 p., photos. Sorry, out of stock.
Contents: Early
History of the Jet Engine; Sir Frank Whittle; E.28/39 Purpose and
Design; Flying Begins with W4041; Sayer's First Flight Report;
The Brief Career of W4046; The Final Flights; Some Pioneer
Pilots; Flight logs of W4041 and W4046.
Sixty plus years ago, on 15
May 1941, Jerry Sayer made the first flight of the
Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 Pioneer, the first British jet aircraft.
It was the third jet to fly after the German He.178 and the
Italian N.1 (CC.2), but was the first successful, with both
Pioneer prototypes logging a total of more than 240 flights. More
importantly, it prompted General Hap Arnold to push for the
development of jet fighters in the US and paved the way for
dynasties of jet aircraft on both sides of the Atlantic.
Until now, only the briefest
information was known about the Pioneer. There were no flight
logs and very few pictures. Now, after lengthy archival research,
the full story can be told FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, with complete
flight logs, never-published-before pictures (including crash of
the second prototype), and company documents detailing the
day-to-day running of the programme. This is aviation history.
Alive.
First Edition. Soft Cover. 32
p., photos, flight log. Sorry, Out of Stock.
Contents: The Career
of SO-9000 Trident, the SO-9050 Trident-II, Trident-IISE: the
Experimental Series, Trident-III and the end, Flight Log Summary,
Specifications, Pilots.
The Trident, of mixed rocket
and jet propulsion, was one of the most famous French prototype
aircraft of the 1950s. It was a glaring example of the impressive
rebirth of French aviation industry after the ravages of World
War II. It demonstrated outstanding performance and achieved some
aviation records which still stand to this day.
The Trident came close to
consolidating in France the new concept of mixed propulsion (the
eight prototypes built logged more than 600 flights including 220
on rocket power). Unfortunately, it was axed in its prime. Had it
survived, it could have well become the stepping stone to
hypersonic and orbital spaceplanes, the way the X-1, X-2 and X-15
paved the way for the US space shuttle.
This book traces the history
of the Trident project, from inception to flight development.
Readers of English should find it particularly revealing, as the
Trident and other fascinating French X-Planes have had scant
coverage in the English aviation library. The pictures are out of
this world and include a stunning spread of a Trident-II in
rocket flight. Like all HPM books, this book is a must-buy!
First Edition. Soft Cover.
48p., photos. Sorry, out of stock.
Contents: Origins and
Purpose; WG 236 and WG 240; XF 828; Flight Tests of the First
Production Aircraft; Flight Logs.
This book marks the 50th
anniversary of the first flight of the DH.110, the prototype of
what would later become the Sea Vixen.
If the operational record of
the Sea Vixen is known, the story of the extensive development of
the DH.110 has never been told before. This book chronicles the
development from the first flight, on 29 September 1951, through
the tragic crash at Farnborough on 6 September 1952 and finally
the first production Sea Vixens.
For the first time, here is
the complete and detailed story of the DH.110 flight development
program. It is based on a formidable mass of exclusive documents
compiled by John Wilson, former DH test pilot and a very good
friend of the author.
First Edition. Soft Cover. 48
p., photos, flight log. $20.00
Matthews,
Henry. Dassault Rafale A: A Pictorial Chronology - (X-Planes
Profile-6). Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications.
Contents:
Origins and Purpose; Construction, Systems and Equipment; First
Testing Campaign; Second Testing Campaign; Chief Test Pilots
Mitaux-Maurouard and Kerhervé; Flight Log.
This is the
full color history of Rafale A, the unique proof-of-concept
aircraft that has ushered in French military aircraft of the
future with its the 867 flights. More than 60 Rafales have been
ordered and the aircraft will equip French squadrons for decades
to come. The Rafale A has been an outstanding success and this is
its complete history, FOR THE FIRST TIME, with more than 100
COLOR, BREATH-TAKING PHOTOS .
Soft Cover.
48 p., photos, color photos. $25.00
Contents:
Origins; Project Development; Design; Manufacture and Flight
Development; Flight No. 1; In-Service History; The First
Accidents; The Rome Accidents; Accident Investigations; Partial
Flight Log of the First Prototype; Comet 1 Production Summary;
Flight Trials with G-ANAV (June-September 1954).
Author David
Foster served for many years with the RAE, and bases this history
of the DH.106 Comet on a multitude of rare documents.
Particularly interesting is his detailed account of the
investigations into the terrible Rome accidents of 1954 and the
lengthy RAE effort which finally revealed the cause.
The Comet 1
was the first passenger-carrying jet, and this book, fifty years
after the first service flight, sheds new light on a tragic and
innovative program.
Soft Cover.
32 p., photos. $20.00
Contents:
Bell 65 ATV, Ryan X-13 Vertijet, Bell X-14, Short SC.1, SNECMA
Coleoptere, Hawker P.1127, Lockheed XV-4, Dassault-Sud Balzac V,
EWR VJ 101C, Yakovlev Yak-36, Hawker P.1127 Kestrel, Ryan XV-5,
Dassault Mirage IIIV, Dornier Do.31 E, YakoveleYak-38, VFW VAK
191B, Rockwell XFV-12A, Yakovlev Yak-141.
Vertical
take-off and landing capability is an inherent characteristic of
many future aircraft still on the drawing board or just beginning
their test flying programs. Most of these aircraft will be
jet-powered, and will make use of the data accumulated over the
years by all the past jet-powered X-planes that flew from 1953 to
1992. More than four decades of VTOL flying and testing. 18 VTOL
types, from the US, Britain, France, Germany and the USSR. Eight
fatal accidents. Hundreds of flights (9 for the Coleoptere, 250
for the Yak-141, 136 flights for the X-13, etc...). This book has
it all: the successes, the failures and the might-have-beens,
with many flying details and data never published before. Who
flew what and when? Most of the answers are here, FOR THE FIRST
TIME.
Soft Cover.
32 p., photos. Sorry, out of stock.
Foster,
David. Challenging the Sound Barrier - (X-Planes Profile-9).
Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications, 2004.
Contents:
Introduction: "Like a barrier against higher
speeds..."; Physical Basis of the Sound Barrier; Effects of
Compressibility on Flight Characteristics; Flight Experience of
Compressibility Effects in Great Britain; Flight Experience of
Compressibility Effects in Germany; Flight Experience of
Compressibility Effects in the United States of America; Origin
and Early Development of Swept Wings; The Possibility of Flight
at Supersonic Speeds; Research Aircraft Designed in Great
Britain; Research Aircraft Designed in Germany; Research Aircraft
Designed in the United States of America; Overview; Bibliography.
The dreaded
sound barrier fell on 14 October 1947 when Chuck Yeager flew the
rocket-powered XS-1 to Mach 1.06 at 43,000 ft. This was the
crowning achievement in a saga which began a decade earlier when
a Messerschmitt test pilot made what may be the first encounter
with compressibility in flight.
This book is
profusely illustrated and documents the efforts in the US,
Britain and Germany to achieve this milestone in the history of
aviation and shatter the dreaded wall.
Soft Cover. 80 p., photos,
illus. $25.00
Matthews,
Henry and Peter Davison. Prelude to Concorde - HP.115 -
Slender Wing Research Aircraft - (X-Planes Profile-10).
Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications, 2004.
Contents:
Origins and Purpose; Construction History; General Description;
The Flying Controls; The Cockpit; The Engine; The Undercarriage;
The Contractor Flying Programme; SBAC '61; The Initial RAE
Evaluation; SBAC'62; The Basic RAE Scientific Research Programme;
Vortex Flow Visualisation; SBAC '64; Undercarriage Failure; Le
Bourget and Unison 65; Flying Demonstrations for HM the Queen;
Flights by French Concorde Pilots; Wingtip Parachute Trials;
Explanatory Flight Research Programme; Conversion Training;
Slender Delta Handling and Noise Research; "Farewell Old
Friend"; Flight Log of HP.115 Registered XP841; Some HP.115
Pilots; Jack Henderson.
This is the
UNTOLD, UNKNOWN and EXCLUSIVE story of the highly successful
British X-Plane which tested Concorde's wing at low speed and
paved the way for the supersonic airliner. Its flying career
spanned eleven years, more than a thousand flights, and 500
flying hours. Read all about it, with exclusive pictures from the
RAE and from very rare footage shot in 1966 by pilot John Farley
himself. Feast your eyes at the end of the book on a COMPLETE
HP.115 FLIGHT LOG which has never ever been published before.
British, American, Australian, French and Canadian pilots flew
this aircraft, including Apollo-11's Neil Armstrong. So did
Roland Beamont, Brian Trubshaw, John Farley, Jack Reeder and
Godfrey Auty.
Harrier-famous
test pilot John Farley wrote the foreword for this book and
called it a "comprehensive record." He also recommended
Henry's efforts to document the X-Planes.
Soft Cover.
80 p., photos, illus. $20.00
X-PILOTS
BOOK Series
Contents: Beginnings:
Air Defence Cadet; The Early Years; Joining Boulton Paul; The
P.111 Delta; P.120, the Black Widow Maker; A Date I Shall Always
Remember; P.111a, the Yellow Peril; Canberras, Tay Viscounts and
Lightnings; The Struggle to Save Shoreham Airport, Delta flight
log and type bag.
This is the story of the late
legendary Chief Test Pilot, Ben Gunn, in his own words. Hold on
to Your seat.
He started flying in Sir Alan
Cobham's famous Air Circus.
He fought in the air in WW II
and shot down the last V1 flying bomb over England, in daylight,
on 1 September 1944.
He flew Tempest fighters in
daring low-level attacks inside Nazi Germany.
He ejected inverted from a
vicious black exotic X-plane dubbed the Widow Maker, and
extensively flew its stablemate the Yellow Peril, which felt like
"sitting on a knife's edge."
He led a successful campaign
to save Shoreham Airport, which was teetering on the edge of
collapse, and made it into the best of the small airports in
England.
He was awarded the Medal of
the British Empire.
Second edition. Soft Cover.
40 p., photos. $20.00
Matthews,
Henry. Mach Busters: X-1 Test Pilots - (X-Pilots Book-2).
Beirut, Lebanon: HPM Publications.
Contents:
Jack Woolams, Chalmers Goodlin, Tex Johnston, Chuck Yeager,
Herbert Hoover, Howard Lilly, James Fitz-Gerald, Gus Lundquist,
Robert Champine, Jack Ridley, Albert Boyd, Frank Everest, John
Griffith, Patrick Fleming, Richard Johnson, Scott Crossfield,
Joseph Cannon, Jean Ziegler, Joe Walker, Fred Ascani, Arthur
Murray, Robert Stephens, Stuart Childs, Horace Hanes, Richard
Harer, Stanley Holtoner, Jack MacKay, Neil Armstrong.
They shaped
the future of aviation on wings of steel and thunder...
In the years
1946 to 1958, the three Bell X-1s and the advanced X-1A, X-1B,
X-1D and X-1E accumulated a total of at least 239 flights.
Twenty-eight pilots from Bell Aircraft Corporation, the US Air
Force and NACA took turns in the cockpit as the bullet-shaped
aircraft explored unprecedented speeds and altitudes in one of
the most successful aeronautical research programs of all times.
Now for the first time, the biography of each X-1 pilot can be
read, with details of major aircraft programs that he
participated in, and much more. You know the X-1. Now meet the
X-1 pilots...
Soft Cover.
64 p., photos. OUT OF PRINT
Contents:
The Early Years; Greece; Western Desert; Back in England; Log of
Experimental Flights.
Meet Eric
Genders, legendary British fighter ace and test pilot. Revealed
in painstaking detail: the adventures, the heroism, the
incredible feats, the blazing skies of Greece and the Western
Desert, the evacuation, the battle of Crete, the air action, the
heroic 21-hour swim to shore after bailing out, the
reconnaissance, interdiction and strafing attacks over Libya,
then the Empire Tests Pilots' School, the flights to the edge as
Commanding Officer of the RAE's Aero Flight and the final
untimely death in the crash of the tailless DH.108. Witness the
history of one of Britain’s great aces as it unfolds.
Based to a
great extent on personal recollections and letters home!!!
Soft Cover.
40 p., photos. $20.00
X-PILOT
PROFILE Series
Matthews,
Henry. Geoffrey de Havilland, Legendary British Chief Test
Pilot - (X-Pilot Profile-1). Beirut, Lebanon: HPM
Publications.
Contents:
The Early Years; The Tragic DH.108 Program.
In the
evening of 27 September 1946, the second DH.108 tailless research
aircraft took off from the de Havilland aircraft factory airfield
at Hatfield, near London to make a practice speed record run over
the Thames Estuary. It did not return. Its wreckage was found the
next day in the mud of Egypt Bay near Gravesend, but it was a
full ten days later before the body of the pilot, 36-year old
Geoffrey Raoul de Havilland, son of company founder Sir Geoffrey
de Havilland, was recovered. What had happened?
Second
Edition. Soft Cover. 16 p., photos. OUT OF PRINT
Contents: The Early
Years; The X-5 Program; Testing the X-1A; The Ill-fated X-2;
Epilogue.
This is the tragic story of
Bell Aircraft Corporation Chief Test Pilot Jean 'Skip' Ziegler
and his pioneering flights on the X-1A, X-5 and X-2. No less
remarkable than the X-planes he tested, Ziegler had served with
the Air Transport Command during World War II, and flew one of
the ten transports which evacuated 10,000 persons from Burma in a
single month. The lean, blond and amiable Ziegler, described by
associates as "a man without nerves and a real flier,"
made the first flight of the X-5 and, in July 1951, the first
flight when the small pot-bellied aircraft moved its wings and
their sweep angle changed from a 24° position to 20°, making it
the first aircraft to change its wing sweep in flight.
Ziegler also made the first
flight of the X-2 and died in its explosion, less than two years
after the X-5's history-making flight.
Second edition. Soft Cover.
16 p., photos. $10.00
Contents: Daring
Rescues and Mercy Flights; Arrow Test Pilot and Space Candidate;
First Rocket Starfighter Pilot; Rocket Starfighter Flight Logs;
SST, TriStar and Chief Test Pilot; Epilogue.
This is the thrilling life
story of the late Jack Woodman, once Canada’s top-running
astronaut candidate, who made the first flights of the NF-104A
rocket Starfighter spaceflight trainer. Before that, he flew
operational missions in World War II, made a history-making
4,600-mile flight to rescue a radio operator in Mould Bay in the
Arctic Ocean (landing on dangerously thin ice), and trained at
the Empire Test Pilots' School in England.
Soft Cover. 16 p., photos.
$10.00
B