Washington Post Book Reviews
For You
Monday January 3, 2011
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JET AGE: The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World
Sam Howe Verhovek
Avery
ISBN 978-1583334027
248 pages
$27
Reviewed by T. Rees-Shapiro
The thrill of flying is gone. An airline, an industry executive once said, is regarded by most of the traveling public as little more than a "glorified bus operation." Just ponder: How many times during your last cross-country trip did you peer out at the prairie more than five miles below? Never mind. On your next flight, pass the time reading Sam Howe Verhovek's new book, "Jet Age."
Verhovek definitively traces the humble beginnings of commercial air travel and introduces its cast of characters, among them a cowboy test pilot named "Tex" who was really from Kansas; a suave and exotic Miami airline magnate; and Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire flying enthusiast who made Hollywood films on the side. The stars of the book, however, are the de Havilland Comet, the world's first commercial jetliner, despite its fatally flawed design; and the Boeing Dash 80, a hulking machine that came to be known as the "707" and "whose DNA can be deduced in any Boeing jetliner designed and flown since."
The Comet's progenitor, Geoffrey de Havilland, had designed fighter planes for the British air forces during World Wars I and II and was determined to push the boundaries of conventional air travel by introducing jet technology to the public. On May 2, 1952, the first passenger-laden Comet, in BOAC livery (now British Airways), took off from London bound for Johannesburg.
The jet arrived two minutes ahead of schedule. Noting that momentous achievement the following December, a Pan-Am airlines representative sent a holiday card to every major American aircraft builder with a picture of Boston's Old North Church with three lanterns in the steeple window. The message was simple. The British were coming -- this time by air.
American manufacturers tried to catch up, but two years went by before airline passengers could board an American-made jet, the Boeing 707, which was developed under unusual circumstances. In the 1950s, Congress enacted an excess profits tax "intended to prevent military companies from making out too well because of increased demand during (the Korean War)." Under the new system, Boeing would have ended up giving 82 cents on every dollar of profit to the government. Seeing an opportunity for both a deep investment and a tax deduction, Boeing's president, Bill Allen, called for the development of the 707 and allotted $15 million to the project -- nearly a quarter of the company's net worth.
While the Comet was the first jetliner to take to the skies, the 707 turned out to be the better designed plane. A fatal flaw with the first Comet's square-shaped windows caused three of the jets to lose cabin pressure and explode in mid-flight. The success of the 707, meanwhile, transformed Boeing. Before the "Jet Age" the company had less than 1 percent of the market share, and now it is one of the leading manufacturers in the world. As Verhovek points out, the president of the United States flies on a Boeing jet.
Today, Verhovek asserts, millions of passengers take for granted how smooth, fast and quiet travel by jet can be. The first commercial propeller-driven planes were slow, loud and bouncy. A simple task such as reading a book in those days was nearly impossible, and a cross-country flight took 27 hours and stopped at least 14 times for fuel. In that same amount of time today, a vacationer can go from her Washington cubicle to a Maui cabana with hours to spare. As Verhovek notes, in 1958, about 170,000 people visited Hawaii. Today, it's more than 7 million.
We can thank Boeing for that.
T. Rees-Shapiro can be reached at shapirot(at symbol)washpost.com.
Copyright 2010 Washington Post Writers Group
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FIVE BOOKS ABOUT CHRISTMAS
NA
NA
ISBN NA
NA pages
$NA
Reviewed by Yvonne Zipp
Whether it's the Grinch staging a midnight raid on Whoville or the Herdman clan terrorizing a nativity play in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," there are so many classic holiday stories that you couldn't get through them all if you started reading before Arbor Day. That's fitting, since the annual shindig in Britain and America can be traced back to one author. No, not Richard Paul Evans -- Charles Dickens, whose "A Christmas Carol" helped reignite a craze for the holiday when it was published in 1843. (Mr. Dickens, Visa salutes you.) Every year brings a sleighful of new entries jostling to become the next "Polar Express" -- or at least a heartwarming adaptation on the Hallmark Channel.
1. Since "The Christmas Box" became a best-seller in 1995, Evans has been publishing's Mr. December. In "Promise Me" (Simon & Schuster, $19.99), Beth's husband has died of cancer. Before shuffling off this mortal coil, he was a cheating louse. Beth's daughter is sick, the doctors can't figure out what's wrong, and her job at the dry cleaner's won't cover the mortgage. Enter a gorgeous stranger, who instantly diagnoses her daughter's illness -- and then makes off with Beth's home equity loan. (A bank handing over $63,000 to somebody it's about to foreclose on -- now, there's a Christmas miracle.) While Evans specializes in heartwarming, there's no getting around the fact that the central relationship here is less Clement Clarke Moore and more Jerry Springer.
2. Miss Arabella Dempsey is also feeling less than merry. Her almost-fiance married her wealthy aunt instead, and the Georgian wallflower is forced to turn teacher. At Miss Climpson's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, Arabella is attacked after stumbling across a Christmas pudding with a message inside. Fortunately, Reginald "Turnip" Fitzhugh, who is "possessed of every worldly endowment except intellect," comes to her rescue. (Picture Bertie Wooster as a romantic lead.) Soon the banter and the puddings are flying as the two team up to catch a spy. Lauren Willig's "The Mischief of the Mistletoe" (Dutton, $19.95) combines elements of Jane Austen's unfinished novel "The Watsons" with a little Baroness Orczy for a sugarplum of a romp that romance fans should gobble up.
3. What if Raymond Chandler traded Los Angeles for the Arctic? Cranky elf Gumdrop Coal has been fired from Santa's Workshop in "The Fat Man: A Tale of North Pole Noir" (Dutton, $19.95). Then a lifelong member of the Naughty List is gunned down with a Red Ryder carbine-action BB gun: "Someone shot his eye out." As things at the North Pole turn as nasty as rancid eggnog, Coal is left with an undeniable conclusion: Someone is gunning for the big guy. A holiday noir is a terrific idea, but, with a cast that includes Tiny Tim, the Nutcracker, the Misfit Toys and George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life," author Ken Harmon crams in too many pop culture references. (Even the Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz" get a shout-out. Also "Citizen Kane.") The effect is rather like someone stuffing a fruitcake, a peppermint stick and a partridge in a pear tree into a blender and pressing frappe.
4. "The Christmas Chronicles" (Bantam, $16) was first produced as an eight-hour radio play, and this novella based on it seems designed to be read aloud. It traces the "real history" of one Klaus, a woodworker in the Black Forest in the 1300s who turned toymaker to console children after the Black Death ravaged his village. Once the magical elements kick in, the novel loses a little momentum, but author Tim Slover mixes dollops of wit in his folk tale. (An official North Pole Amendment: "Each child may make his or her list of requests as long as he or she pleases. Santa will be happy to consider the first three items. After that his attention tends to flag.") While it lacks the wonder of "The Polar Express," "The Christmas Chronicles" offers a similar message. And a reader can easily imagine Rankin/Bass turning it into a stop-motion holiday special, with nemesis Rolf Eckhof taking the place of Burgermeister Meisterburger.
5. Boys and dogs go together like marshmallows and cocoa, but the neglected Irish setter that George's grandfather brings home is strictly on loan while his owner is in jail. Nonetheless, Tucker's presence at the Kansas dairy farm -- still reeling from the death of George's father -- is so welcome that "it was as if the McCray family had suddenly discovered the benefits of running water." With "Christmas With Tucker" (Doubleday, $15.99), Greg Kincaid has written a solid, earnest holiday tale about hard work, family and the importance of a good dog.
Yvonne Zipp reviews books regularly for the Christian Science Monitor.
Copyright 2010 Washington Post Writers Group
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