This volume chronicles the making of the Harrier Jump Jet—the innovative Cold War fighter aircraft designed to operate from virtually anywhere. In 1957, the British engine manufacturer Bristol Siddeley turned aircraft design on its head with the creation of the Pegasus engine. Until then, aircraft designs would seek out suitable engines. Now the Pegasus was an engine in search of a suitable aircraft. The result was the famous Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first military airplane capable of vertical takeoff and landings. To this day, Harrier Jump Jets are still in front-line service with air forces around the world including the Royal Air Force and US Marine Corps. In this volume, former Bristol Siddeley executive Andrew Dow offers an in-depth look at the Pegasus engine's original design concept, production and flight testing. Dow then covers the developments and improvements that have been made over the years. He also includes experiences of operational combat flying, both from land and sea. Written in straightforward prose that avoids technical jargon, Pegasus, The Heart of the Harrier is copiously illustrated with many previously unseen photographs and diagrams.

The conception of the Pegasus engine in 1957 upset all the conventions of aircraft design. It was previously usual for aircraft designers to seek a suitable engine, but this was an engine that sought an aircraft. The aircraft that resulted was the famous Harrier that is still in front-line service with air forces around the world including the RAF and US Marine Corps. This book takes an in-depth look at the engine's original design concept, initial production and flight testing. It then goes on to explain how the developments and improvements have been made over the ensuing years and includes experiences of operational combat flying, both from land and sea. The book is written in a non technical style that makes comfortable reading for all enthusiasts and historians and is copiously illustrated with many previously unseen photographs and diagrams.

The conception of the Pegasus engine in 1956 upset all the conventions of aircraft design. It was customary for aircraft designers to seek a suitable engine, but this was an engine that sought an aircraft. The aircraft that resulted was the famous Harrier that is still in front-line service with air forces around the world including the Spanish, Indian, Italian Navies, and US Marine Corps. This book takes an in-depth look at the engine's original design concept, initial production and flight testing. It then goes on to explain how the developments and improvements have been made over the ensuing years and includes experiences of operational combat flying, both from land and sea. The book is written in a readable style for all, whether engineers, historians or enthusiasts and is copiously illustrated with many previously unseen photographs and drawings.

An in-depth look at the United States Marine Corps-in the New York Times bestselling tradition of Submarine, Armored Cav, and Fighter Wing Only the best of the best can be Marines. And only Tom Clancy can tell their story--the fascinating real-life facts more compelling than any fiction. Clancy presents a unique insider's look at the most hallowed branch of the Armed Forces, and the men and women who serve on America's front lines. Marine includes: An interview with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles "Chuck" Krulak The tools and technology of the Marine Expeditionary Unit The role of the Marines in the present and future world An in-depth look at recruitment and training Exclusive photographs, illustrations, and diagrams

In 1948, Hawker Aircraft, faced with new jet projects that could not use their existing airfield at Langley, began the process of searching for alternative accommodation for their flight-testing requirements. It would, however, take three hard years before Dunsfold Aerodrome would be made available by a reluctant Air Ministry and the company was able to launch its first jet aircraft design – the Sea Hawk – into series production for the Royal Navy, closely followed by the superlative Hunter. Hawker Aircraft would go on to produce nearly 2,000 Hunters before other projects came to the fore. As Hunter production continued in the late 1950s, the company looked to its successor – the Mach 2 capable air superiority fighter designated P.1121, though this would stall before flight in the wake of serious national financial shortfalls. With the loss of its premier project, the company came upon a radical new engine proposal and schemed an aircraft around it capable of vertical take-off and landing. While many decried the proposal, claiming it would never amount to anything, the Harrier would go on to prove the nay-sayers wrong as it came into its own during the Falklands War. Following the Harrier, Hawker Siddeley stepped into the competitive trainer aircraft market with the Hawk for the RAF. After completion of the RAF requirement, Hawk was sold into air arms across the world, including the US Navy, an incredible achievement for a UK design. British Aerospace then brought forth the Harrier GR.5, the UK version of the US AV-8B, a completely upgraded and improved Harrier. One might expect that this prolific output was the result of some massive industrial plant in the Midlands rather than an isolated aerodrome tucked in the rural hinterland of south Surrey. Surrounded for most of its existence by secrecy, due to the nature of its work, Dunsfold has largely escaped the notice of the general public. This work shines a light on the remarkable work carried out there.

At the dawn of the twentieth century mankind had not yet achieved powered flight. The main motive power then was provided by steam engines – heavy, dirty and inefficient. If one wanted to travel ‘over seas’ one had to travel on them. A journey from London to New York, by steam-driven train and ship, took more than 6 days. By the time the same century drew to a close in December 1999, air travel was the normal choice for long journeys. Millions of people every day flew comfortably and safely in pressurised aluminium airliners propelled by simple, clean and efficient gas turbine engines. The same journey from London to New York could be achieved at supersonic speed in less than 6 hours. For much of that century, many of the extraordinary developments that moved aviation from fragile wood and fabric biplanes to supersonic transports were achieved on 330 acres of low-lying former estate farmland in Surrey, England. The estate was called Brooklands. Those marshy acres were transformed from 1907 into the world’s first custom-built motor-racing circuit, then a rapidly developing aerodrome, and finally one of the country’s largest aircraft factories, employing tens of thousands of people. Nearly 19,000 aircraft of many different types were built at Brooklands during nine decades of peace and war. By the 1980s however it was being eclipsed by larger manufacturing sites elsewhere, with longer runways and better communications links; its owner, by then called British Aerospace, finally closed the factory in 1989. This book tells the history of those amazing developments through 100 of the key aircraft, engines, places and other objects that can still be seen, either in or near Brooklands Museum or in other locations around the country. It also highlights the stories of six designers whose inspiring creativity produced aircraft, engines and weapons ranging from Camel to Concorde, Fury to Harrier, Wellington to Viscount, Merlin to Olympus. Between them, Thomas Sopwith, Barnes Wallis, Rex Pierson, Sydney Camm, Stanley Hooker and George Edwards were responsible for much of what was designed, built and flown, not only at Brooklands but elsewhere too. The book is arranged in successive historical episodes but the many links between the objects and the designers should allow readers to follow different paths if they so wish. It is not intended as a technical reference but rather to inspire the reader to seek out the objects and discover more about them.