Not Much Of An Engineer:- An Autobiography

Product Information

A poor condition book can still make a good reading copy but is generally not collectible unless the item is very scarce. For this role, he produced his first completely original design, the Orpheus, which went on to power the Fiat G91 and other light fighters.

Being British it's fascinating how much the entire jet turbine programs and development all rotated around a few very, very clever men in Derby and Bristol. With the surplus of talent at Rolls-Royce after the Second World War, Hooker was not appointed to the post of Chief Engineer, as he had expected, and his resignation from Rolls-Royce was rancorous.This seems to have been another of his skills – explaining complex issues in a manner accessible to a wide audience. It is a personal memoir, and as such tends to be a bit rambling at times, like reading someone's diary. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. This had been instituted by the Busk family in memory of Edward Busk who was killed as a pioneer aviator.

The book has a useful glossary and even covers some of the calculations used in determining engine efficiencies. The same year the Air Ministry made a request for a turbocharged Merlin for use in the planned high altitude Wellington VI bomber.They had been built under trying circumstances, with little interest being shown by the British government, but backing by the then still independent British Thomson Houston Ltd. His recommendations were put into the production line for newer versions, notably the Merlin 45, improving its power by approximately 30%, and then the Merlin 61. I. Taylor ranks at the very top — before Prandtl of Göttingen, von Kármán of Aachen or Southwell of Oxford.

By a series of supposed coincidences, no doubt part of Hives’ and his associates’ plan, he fell in with colleagues who were peripherally involved with his particular genius, and his career went from there. But fate intervened, and in December 1929, I suffered a broken leg in a football match against University College Hospital.

Sir Stanley Hooker was knighted in 1974 for his contribution to aero engine design and his roll in saving Rolls-Royce. PEGASUS - THE HEART OF THE HARRIER: The History and Development of the World's First Operational Vertical Take-off and Landing Jet Engine.