No aircraft ever captured the curiosity & fascination of the public like the SR-71 Blackbird. Nicknamed "The Sled" by those few who flew it, the aircraft was shrouded in secrecy from its inception. Entering the U.S. Air Force inventory in 1966, the SR-71 was the fastest, highest flying jet aircraft in the world. Now for the first time, a Blackbird pilot shares his unique experience of what it was like to fly this legend of aviation history. Through the words & photographs of retired Major Brian Shul, we enter the world of the "Sled Driver." Major Shul gives us insight on all phases of flying, including the humbling experience of simulator training, the physiological stresses of wearing a space suit for long hours, & the intensity & magic of flying 80,000 feet above the Earth's surface at 2000 miles per hour. SLED DRIVER takes the reader through riveting accounts of the rigors of initial training, the gamut of emotions experienced while flying over hostile territory, & the sheer joy of displaying the jet at some of the world's largest airshows. Illustrated with rare photographs, seen here for the first time, SLED DRIVER captures the mystique & magnificence of this most unique of all aircraft.

This book provides a detailed general overview of the human factors and performance limitations associated with flying fast jets, integrating all the latest available research literature on the demanding operational tasks faced by such pilots and aircrews. As such, it has a strong military focus, dealing with pilots of fighter aircraft, attack aircraft and lead-in fighter trainer aircraft that are traditionally only single or dual pilot operations. The book deals not only with the issue of G force, but discusses ejection and escape/survival, disorientation, high altitude physiology, pilot training and selection, helmet-mounted equipment, situational awareness, data fusion and multi-sensor integration, human machine interface issues and advanced cockpit design. It examines the human performance issues associated with the technological advances made in fast jets, such as increased manoeuvrability, increased use of the pilot’s head as a mounting platform for sensor and weapons systems, and the complexities involved in the human-machine interface within these aircraft.

QF32 is the award winning bestseller from Richard de Crespigny, author of the forthcoming Fly!: Life Lessons from the Cockpit of QF32 On 4 November 2010, a flight from Singapore to Sydney came within a knife edge of being one of the world's worst air disasters. Shortly after leaving Changi Airport, an explosion shattered Engine 2 of Qantas flight QF32 - an Airbus A380, the largest and most advanced passenger plane ever built. Hundreds of pieces of shrapnel ripped through the wing and fuselage, creating chaos as vital flight systems and back-ups were destroyed or degraded. In other hands, the plane might have been lost with all 469 people on board, but a supremely experienced flight crew, led by Captain Richard de Crespigny, managed to land the crippled aircraft and safely disembark the passengers after hours of nerve-racking effort. Tracing Richard's life and career up until that fateful flight, QF32 shows exactly what goes into the making of a top-level airline pilot, and the extraordinary skills and training needed to keep us safe in the air. Fascinating in its detail and vividly compelling in its narrative, QF32 is the riveting, blow-by-blow story of just what happens when things go badly wrong in the air, told by the captain himself. Winner of ABIA Awards for Best General Non-fiction Book of the Year 2013 and Indie Awards' Best Non-fiction 2012 Shortlisted ABIA Awards' Book of the Year 2013

The UK Radiotelephony Manual (CAP 413) aims to provide pilots, Air Traffic Services personnel and aerodrome drivers with a compendium of clear, concise, standard phraseology and associated guidance for radiotelephony communication in United Kingdom airspace

In February 1999, only a few weeks before the U.S. Air Force spearheaded NATO's Allied Force air campaign against Serbia, Col. C.R. Anderegg, USAF (Ret.), visited the commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. Colonel Anderegg had known Gen. John Jumper since they had served together as jet forward air controllers in Southeast Asia nearly thirty years earlier. From the vantage point of 1999, they looked back to the day in February 1970, when they first controlled a laser-guided bomb strike. In this book Anderegg takes us from "glimmers of hope" like that one through other major improvements in the Air Force that came between the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. Always central in Anderegg's account of those changes are the people who made them. This is a very personal book by an officer who participated in the transformation he describes so vividly. Much of his story revolves around the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, where he served two tours as an instructor pilot specializing in guided munitions.

This book provides a detailed overview of the human factors and performance limitations associated with flying fast jets, integrating all the latest available research literature on the demanding operational tasks faced by such pilots and aircrews. As such, it has a strong military focus, dealing with pilots of fighter aircraft, attack aircraft and lead-in fighter trainer aircraft that are traditionally only single or dual pilot operations.

Jets are sleek and powerful. They travel very fast. But how do these heavy planes fly? And how do pilots land them? Read this book to find out!