Barnes Wallis

Ref: 5090

SOLD In stock

Price: £12.50

sadly, flyingbooks is now closed.

{detailed description}Barnes Willis has been at the forefront of progress in aviation for virtually the whole history of the aeronautical industry. He was already ten years old when taken to see Gladstone's Iying-in-state; now in his eighties, when men have walked on the moon, he is still hard at work on the most advanced aeronautical and submarine inventions. This biography, based on Wallis's huge collection of private and professional papers, and on other sources hitherto untapped, tells the public and personal story of this extraordinary man.
Already before the First World War Wallis was designing rigid airships. He was uniquely responsible for the R.80, the most beautiful airship ever built; and for the R.100, the most successful.
He introduced into aircraft design geodetic construction, and, more recently, the 'swing wing' aeroplane. He designed the Wellesley and Wellington bombers, the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs, and conceived and built the famous dam-busting bouncing bomb. Nor have Wallis's skills been limited to aeronautics and aerial warfare; he has contributed to the development of radio telescopy, planned nuclear submarines, and devoted much of his time to the advancement of education.
In telling the story of Wallis's exceptionally interesting life, this book illuminates the social, political and military history of this century, entering into some of the bitterest debates of the recent past. It also explores and explains some intriguing paradoxes of Wallis's character. It recounts his disappointments and frustrations as well as his great achievements, and provides a continuously fascinating picture of a man who only recently has received the public recognition due to his genius.
{Author / Publisher / Date}by J. E. Morpurgo
published by Longman 1972 3rd impression 400pp illustrated, index, notes 14x22
{condition}foxing to edges, small inscription to front free end-paper and corner clipped, d/j also foxed and price clipped.
{delivery info}