Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story

by Darlene Lister and R. Dale Reed

Book Overview

Most lifting bodies, or "flying bathtubs" as they were called, were so ugly only an engineer could love them, and yet, what an elegant way to keep wings from burning off in supersonic flight between earth and orbit. Working in their spare time (because they couldn't initially get official permission), Dale Reed and his team of engineers demonstrated the potential of the design that led to the Space Shuttle.

Wingless Flight takes us...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0160493900
• ISBN13: 9780160493904
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Very Accurate History

I worked on the X-24 lifting body spacecraft in the late 60s and am referenced in this book. Take my word for it, this a very accurate account of the early days of lifting bodies by both NASA and the USAF. I worked at the Los Angeles Air Force Station in the Space Systems Division at the time. We flight tested a 7 foot version of the X-24 (the SV-5). It was launched from Vandenburg down the Western Test Range with terminal guidance in the Kwajelein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. We then flight tested the X-24 by dropping it from a B-52 ala the X-15. Jerri Gentry was our test pilot and aced each flight test. What a trip!!!!

an amazing story of invention and determination

Dale Reed grows up in a log cabin and sees his first plane land on a lake as a teen. He falls in love, gets his pilot's license at age 16, finds his way to college and then to NASA and for over 50 years designs strange and wonderful things that change the science of flight... and on a showstring budget. Read this to learn about how we all stand on the shoulders of giants. And that planes without wings do fly!

Filled with great pictures too!

There's a great photo of the author holding the first flying model of the M2F1 he built and tested, standing next to the M2F1! That's just one of many. The paperback edition has an update from 2005; what a treat that a program from the 1960s has such an up to date publication. If you're a junky for experimental aircraft you have to have this one.

The Definitive Volume on the Subject!

I've studied these vehicles for years and thought I knew a lot about them. But Dale Reed was there and does a masterful job of melding the history time line with the results of the program. There are probably only a handful of people who could have written this book which is as rich in detail and "colorful" stories as any reader could want. If you've read the story of the X-15, this is the next logical step. If you haven't, you need to to really grasp what was going on at Edwards during this time. Fascinating!

The definitive history of NASA lifting bodies to date.

A well written book from the engineer that was at the center of this small group of specialized aerospace vehicles. While detailed and somewhat technical, the author still manages to convey the sense of personal excitement, accomplishment and, at times, frustration experienced by everyone supporting these vehicles. A must-read for anyone interested in these vehicles.