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When Giants Ruled the Sky: The Brief Reign and Tragic Demise of the American Rigid Airship [Hardback]

4.18/5 (34 ratings by Goodreads)
  • Formāts: Hardback, height x width: 234x156 mm, 20 Illustrations, black and white
  • Izdošanas datums: 29-Oct-2021
  • Izdevniecība: The History Press Ltd
  • ISBN-10: 0750987839
  • ISBN-13: 9780750987837
  • Hardback
  • Cena: 35,21 €
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  • Formāts: Hardback, height x width: 234x156 mm, 20 Illustrations, black and white
  • Izdošanas datums: 29-Oct-2021
  • Izdevniecība: The History Press Ltd
  • ISBN-10: 0750987839
  • ISBN-13: 9780750987837
Almost everything you know about airships is wrong. Between 1917 and 1935, the US Navy poured tens of millions of dollars into their airship programme, building a series of dirigibles each one more enormous than the last. These flying behemoths were to be the future of long-distance transport, competing with trains and ocean liners to carry people, post and cargo from country to country, and even across the sea. But by 1936 all these ambitious plans had been scrapped. What happened? When Giants Ruled the Sky is the story of how the American rigid airship came within a hairs breadth of dominating long-distance transportation. It is also the story of four men whose courage and determination kept the programme going despite the obstacles thrown in their way until the Navy deliberately ignored a fatal design flaw, bringing the programme crashing back to earth. The subsequent cover-up prevented the truth from being told for more than eighty years. Now, for the first time, what really happened can be revealed.

Recenzijas

Totally captivating. A fascinating account of glory and tragedy that soars with suspense. I enjoyed the hell out of it! -- Dirk Cussler When Giants Ruled the Sky examines the successes, problems and controversies of the American rigid airship program bringing the industrialists and engineers who designed and built them, and the officers and men who flew them, to life. No airship fanciers library should be without a copy. -- Tom Crouch Its too often forgotten that for a few short years the U.S. Navy actually possessed flying aircraft carriers and the worlds greatest airship fleet. In his latest book, John Geoghegan has performed sterling service in excavating the astounding story of the Akron and the Macon from the tomb of lost history. -- Alexander Rose A well-researched history of the rigid airship carrier during the interwar years of U.S. naval aeronautics. A genuine contribution. -- William Althoff This extremely readable and gripping new account of the US Navy rigid airship programme and the demise of its giant flying aircraft carriers Akron and Macon, draws on fresh statements and personal accounts to tell the story through the eyes of those directly involved. The best book on the subject by far. -- Alastair Reid The best book focused upon the USS Akron & Macon published in the last 55 years! -- C.P. Hall

Principal Players 7(6)
Preface 13(10)
PART I A Giant in Flight. USS Akron (ZRS-4), 1933
1 Admiral William A. Moffett: A Giant in Winter
23(6)
2 Departures
29(9)
3 A Night to Remember
38(9)
4 Fight for Survival
47(7)
5 Spotlight
54(7)
6 Wiley on Trial
61(12)
PART II A Giant is Born
7 Paul W. Litchfield: A Giant in Spring
73(7)
8 Blimps Lead the Way
80(4)
9 Dawn of the Commercial Airship
84(12)
10 Competition
96(6)
11 Cutting a Deal
102(4)
12 Pitching Commercial Airships
106(4)
13 The Design Competition
110(7)
14 Success within Reach
117(6)
15 For Want of a Nail
123(6)
16 Airship Fever
129(8)
17 Consequences
137(8)
PART III A Giant in Trouble. USS Macon (ZRS-5), 1933--34
18 Building the Macon
145(9)
19 Christening
154(11)
20 Trial Flights
165(7)
21 Lakehurst
172(5)
22 Dr Karl Arnstein: A Giant Displaced
177(7)
23 Doubts
184(8)
24 Fulton
192(5)
25 Sunnyvale
197(7)
26 Up to the Task?
204(25)
27 Flying Aircraft Carriers
229(7)
28 Peril in the Sky
236(7)
29 Fleet Problem XV
243(8)
30 A Giant in Waiting
251(6)
PART IV A Giant Redeemed. USS Macon (ZRS-5), 1934--35
31 The Houston Incident
257(7)
32 Lt Cdr Wiley: A Giant Revealed
264(9)
33 A Giant Excels
273(10)
34 A Giant in Danger
283(14)
35 A Giant is Lost
297(13)
36 A Giant is Rescued
310(9)
37 A Giant on Trial
319(13)
38 Assigning Blame
332(12)
39 Aftermath
344(6)
40 A Giant is Found
350(8)
Epilogue 358(13)
Acknowledgements 371(4)
Sources 375(10)
Notes 385(41)
Index 426(11)
About the Author 437
JOHN J. GEOGHEGAN is a journalist, author, and editor who specializes in reporting on White Elephant Technology. His articles have appeared in the New York Times Science section, WIRED, Popular Science, and the Smithsonians Air & Space magazine, and he has featured in a number of interviews and documentaries. He has previously written When Giants Ruled the Sky for The History Press, and Operation Storm: Japans Top Secret Submarines and Their Plan to Change the Course of WWII (Crown, 2013), both on WETech inventions. He lives in California.