John R. W. Smith

A behind-the-scenes look at the aeronautical engineers who keep the skies safe.

Many are surprised to learn that flying is, statistically, the safest means of transportation. Even less well known is the crucial role that flight test observers and engineers play in ensuring that level of safety. In this book, one of them recounts his experience as an aeronautical engineer working in partnership with test pilots, painting a vivid portrait of his flight-testing career from the 1960s to early 1980s at Avro and the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

During the author's time at Avro, he flew on the development and certification test flights of the Avro 748, 748MF, Shackletons, Nimrod, and Handley-Page Victor tanker. In the CAA, his role turned to regulation, making flight test assessments of manufacturer's prototypes and production aircraft, to check compliance with the CAA's flight safety requirements. The scope ranged from single-engine light aircraft to large civil transport aircraft. It involved frequent visits to foreign manufacturers and also included his participation in the CAA's Concorde certification flight test program.

Advancements in the understanding of aerodynamics and an increasingly professional approach to risk management improved safety, but flight testing still involves risk, and several of the author's close friends and colleagues died in flight test accidents during this period. It is because of the courage and expertise of such people that millions of flights now touch down safely each year.

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