When Jerry Grayson left the Royal Navy's Search and Rescue helicopter fleet aged 25, he was the most decorated peacetime naval pilot in history. In terms of excitement, however, civilian life couldn't compete – especially when the only real demand for helicopter pilots was as glorified chauffeurs for the very wealthy. Jerry had a passion for the movies and spotted a way in to a new career. Somebody had to fly those crazy acrobatic stunts and capture dramatic aerial footage, and he reckoned he could do it better, push his helicopter further, and guarantee the most exciting shots, which other pilots might have considered impossible. And he was right. Over the past 35 years Jerry has become the go-to man for aerial filmmaking, shooting everything from music videos, car commercials and nature documentaries to the Athens Olympic Games and the landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. But it is in Hollywood that Jerry has really made his mark. He was barely out of his 20s when he worked on the airborne finale to the James Bond film A View to a Kill, and that helped cement his reputation for the decades since. Film Pilot: Flying the Lens is full of entertaining behind-the-scenes stories (some that almost ended in disaster for Jerry and an A-list actor or two...) and revelatory insights into just how this invisible sector of the film business operates. We all take aerial footage for granted, without appreciating the lengths gone to shoot it. This is perhaps never more apparent than when Jerry's skills are called upon to gather more important footage – the burning oilfields of Kuwait following the first Gulf War, and flooded New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

En instruktionsbog (Flight Manual) for B-47 Stratojet.

Instruktionsbog for det amerikanske eksperimentalfly fra 1950erne, Douglas X-3 Stiletto.

Designed without horizontal stabilizers, the X-4 Bantam had a semi-tailless design that bore some resemblance to Germany¿s Me-163 rocket plane. The small, twin-jet craft relied on combined elevator and aileron surfaces ¿ known as elevons ¿ for pitch and roll control. The role of the X-4 was to explore the transonic speed zone, and to determine whether the design would lessen the stability and control problems affiliated with compressibility. Although two Bantams were built, only one proved mechanically sound. The second was flown over eighty times by Northrop, Air Force and NACA pilots. They learned that the X-4 was sensitive in pitch, and showed a tendency to ¿hunt¿ about all three axes as it approached Mach 1.0. Thus, the X-4¿s design proved a failure. Originally printed by Northrop, NACA and the USAF, this handbook provides a fascinating glimpse inside the cockpit of this experimental plane. The manual was recently declassified and is here reprinted in book form.

En instruktionsbog (Flight Manual) for F-84F Thunderstreak/Thunderjet.

Chance-Vought¿s F7U Cutlass was inspired by design data retrieved from Germany¿s Arado Company at the end of WWII. To avoid extreme nose-down forces, the Cutlass was a ¿tail-less¿ aircraft. Its swept wings had vertical fins and ¿ailevator¿ control surfaces. Although intended to operate at up to Mach .95, the aircraft was hampered by under- powered Westinghouse turbojets, and its nose-up profile made carrier landings dangerous. Although its in-flight performance was acceptable, the Navy initially rejected the plane as unfit for carrier use. While nearly 200 F7U-3s were eventually delivered, they were retired only five years after their introduction. Originally printed by the U.S. Navy, this F7U-3 Flight Operating Manual taught pilots everything they needed to know before entering the cockpit. Classified ¿Restricted¿, it was recently de- classified and is here reprinted in book form. This facsimile has been reformatted. Care has been taken however to preserve the integrity of the text.

Conceived during the dark days of the Cold War, the U-2 is a single-engine,single-seat, surveillance aircraft. Designed by aeronautical engineer ¿Kelly¿ Johnson, the plane was used by the C.I.A. to photograph installations deep inside Soviet Russia. Known as the ¿Dragon Lady¿, the U-2 was classified. Its existence remained a secret until 1960, when a U-2 flown by Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet territory. The U-2 went on to have a long and illustrious career. Upgraded airframes remained in use five decades after it first debuted. Originally printed by Lockheed and the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s, this Flight Operating Handbook taught pilots everything they needed to know before entering the cockpit. Classified ¿Restricted¿, the manual was recently declassified and is here reprinted in book form. This affordable facsimile has been slightly reformatted. Care has been taken however to preserve the integrity of the text.