Flying a small plane to Alaska is an adventure many pilots only dream of. In 2008, the author, a student pilot, and his brother, a flight instructor, embarked on this adventure in an airplane old enough to be their mother. On their journey, they examined how to fit twelve feet eight inches worth of grown men into one of the smallest cockpits on earth--for as many as eight hours a day. They visited places they had planned on going, to see friends and relatives, and made unintended stops in places they hadn’t ever heard of. They waited out weather, waited on maintenance, and wrapped the whirlwind of learning to fly into one of the grandest cross-country trips imaginable. In the end, they covered in two weeks what takes commercial air carriers only a few hours to accomplish--but they had a lot more fun--and a much better view.

The X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability Demonstrator was unique among experimental aircraft. A joint effort of the United States and Germany, the X-31 was the only X-plane to be designed, manufactured, and flight tested as an international collaboration. It was also the only X-plane to support two separate test programs conducted years apart, one administered largely by NASA and the other by the U.S. Navy, as well as the first X-plane ever to perform at the Paris Air Show. Flying Beyond the Stall begins by describing the government agencies and private-sector industries involved in the X-31 program, the genesis of the supermaneuverability concept and its initial design breakthroughs, design and fabrication of two test airframes, preparation for the X-31's first flight, and the first flights of Ship #1 and Ship #2. Subsequent chapters discuss envelope expansion, handling qualities (especially at high angles of attack), and flight with vectored thrust. The book then turns to the program's move to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and actual flight test data. Additional tasking, such as helmet-mounted display evaluations, handling quality studies, aerodynamic parameter estimation, and a "tailless" study are also discussed.The book describes how, in the aftermath of a disastrous accident with Ship #1 in 1995, Ship #2 was prepared for its outstanding participation in the Paris Air Show. The aircraft was then shipped back to Edwards AFB and put into storage until the late 1990s, when it was refurbished for participation in the U. S. Navy's VECTOR program. The book ends with a comprehensive discussion of lessons learned and includes an Appendix containing detailed information.