March 2016 AH 57ABOVE LEFT: U.S. NAVY
SONIC WIND
The Story of John Paul Stapp and How a Renegade
Doctor Became the Fastest Man on Earth
by Craig Ryan, Liveright Publishing, 2015, $27.95.This is a follow-up to Robert
E. Bradley’s previous study
of advanced projects by
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft,
_PQKPNWK][MLWVÆaQVOJWI\[bombers and transports.
Many of the unusual aircraft
described here were actually
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were sold in quantity. Others
remained mere concepts that
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The book’s title falls short
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scope of Bradley’s work,
which extends to projects
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name. Included, for example,
are the last of the famous line
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the XP-13 Viper, and the
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Detroit Aircraft by Lockheed.
Also covered is the distinctive
line of Vultee combat air-
craft, such as the P-66 Van-
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attack bombers.
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Robert GuttmanYAKOVLEV FIGHTERS
OF WORLD WAR Two
JaAMÅU/WZLWV;MZOMa3WUQ[[IZW^IVL,UQ\ZQa
3WUQ[[IZW^0QSWSQ8]JTQKI\QWV[4\L ! From their hasty debut amid Germany’s
invasion of the Soviet Union on June
! \W\PMQZZWTMQVJZQVOQVOIJW]\
;W^QM\^QK\WZaWV5Ia!! LM[QOV[Ja
)TMS[IVLZAISW^TM^ZI\MIUWVO?WZTL
?IZ11¼[UW[\QUXWZ\IV\ÅOP\MZ[*]\]V\QT
the Soviet Union’s collapse, information
on them tended to be incomplete and
LQ[\WZ\MLJaXZWXIOIVLI6M_TaI^IQT-
IJTMLWK]UMV\[PI^MKPIVOML\PI\[\I\M
WNIٺIQZ[IVLAISW^TM^.QOP\MZ[WN ?WZTL
?IZ<_W represents a collaboration
between American and Russian scholars
\WOQ^M\PMUW[\LM\IQTMLIVLIKK]ZI\MZMNMZMVKMaM\
AISW^TM^XZWL]KMLWVTaNW]ZJI[QKXZWL]K\QWV\aXM[L]ZQVO
the war, but each of them was built in myriad sub-types—for
example, 22 variants of the Yak-9 were built, of which 15
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here, after which a comprehensive account describes their use
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QTT][\ZI\ML_Q\PXPW\W[IVLKWTWZXZWÅTM[\PMJWWSKWVKT]LM[
_Q\PIO]QLM\WAIS[QVU][M]U[IZW]VL\PM_WZTLIVL\PW[M
[\QTTÆaQVO)TTQVITT\PQ[Q[ITWVOW^MZL]MTWWSI\IVQUXWZ\IV\
family of warplanes.
Jon GuttmanCONVAIR
ADVANCED
DESIGNS II
Secret Fighters, Attack
Aircraft and Unique
Concepts, 1929-1973
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Publishing, 2013, $39.95.Most aviation enthusiasts who
have heard of John Paul Stapp
recall him as the man who
rode a rocket sled, his cheeks
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speed. In fact Stapp, an M.D.
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pilot—rode rocket-propelled
sleds 29 times, personally
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\PM_QVLJTI[\IVMRMK\QVORM\
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to 639 mph—Mach 0.83—
and a force of 46.2 positive
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acceleration ever voluntarily
experienced by a human.
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publicized achievement, it
was only a small part of what
;\IXXLQLL]ZQVOPQ[TQNM\QUMIn fact Stapp’s most notorious
accomplishment may have
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what he called Murphy’s Law:
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Captain Edward Murphy,
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casual and clumsy version of
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;\IXXNWZOM\\QVO\PMKZMLQ\
Even a partial list of Stapp’s
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NWZUQLIJTM<PW]OPPMVM^MZ
admitted it, Stapp almost cer-
tainly was the doc who late
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+P]KSAMIOMZ¼[JZWSMVZQJ[[W
that he could break the sound
barrier the next day. He and
IVW\PMZÅOP\MZXQTW\XIT2WM
3Q\\QVOMZXMZNMK\ML\PMXIZI-
bolic trajectory that has been
][ML\WOQ^MbMZW/M`XMZQ-
ences to everyone from astro-nauts to adventurous tourists,
and Stapp developed the
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LIZL[\PI\[MTMK\ML\PMWZQOQVIT
Mercury Seven astronauts.
;\IXXIVL3Q\\QVOMZ_MV\WV
\WLWTIVLUIZS_WZSWVPQOP
speed parachutes, which Kit-
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altitude jumps from balloons,
and Stapp developed what
became the standard U.S.
mili tary seat harness, at one
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He helped develop the
anthropomorphic crash-test
dummy, only a small part of
the work he did on automo-
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U.S. automotive industry
to install three-point seat-
belts and other features that
were later casually credited
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Administration. In fact, be -
tween his aviation and auto-
motive work it has been said
Stapp is indirectly responsible
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other individual in history.
;WVQK?QVL is an evocative,
splendidly written account of
Stapp’s accomplishments as
well as his often lonely per-
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with the Air Force and his con-
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to protect us from the harsh
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tures that threaten us when-
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in motion.
Stephan Wilkinson