The Problem with Pilots

How Physicians, Engineers, and Airpower Enthusiasts Redefined Flight

By: Timothy P. Schultz

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Hardcover | 14 May 2018 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
280 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
22.7 x 15.9 x 2.3

Hardcover

RRP $99.99

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An illuminating look at how human vulnerability led to advances in aviation technology.

As aircraft flew higher, faster, and farther in the early days of flight, pilots were exposed as vulnerable, inefficient, and dangerous. They asphyxiated or got the bends at high altitudes; they fainted during high-G maneuvers; they spiraled to the ground after encountering clouds or fog. Their capacity to commit fatal errors seemed boundless. The Problem with Pilots tells the story of how, in the years between the world wars, physicians and engineers sought new ways to address these difficulties and bridge the widening gap between human and machine performance.

A former Air Force pilot, Timothy P. Schultz delves into archival sources to understand the evolution of the pilot-aircraft relationship. As aviation technology evolved and enthusiasts looked for ways to advance its military uses, pilots ceded hands-on control to sophisticated instrument-based control. By the early 1940s, pilots were sometimes evicted from aircraft in order to expand the potential of airpower--a phenomenon much more common in today's era of high-tech (and often unmanned) aircraft.

Connecting historical developments to modern flight, this study provides an original view of how scientists and engineers brought together technological, medical, and human elements to transform the pilot's role. The Problem with Pilots does away with the illusion of pilot supremacy and yields new insights into our ever-changing relationship with intelligent machines.

Industry Reviews

""Schultz is writing for two separate audiences: fellow historians of technology as well as mid-career military officers who represent the rising generation of top commanders and policymakers. This may seem a tall order, but the author's diverse background'retired military pilot, Ph.D. in History of Technology, former Commandant and Dean of the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies'allows him to bridge this gap... Schultz provides readers with both the historical case studies and the theoretical tools to clearly demonstrate what too few policymakers seem to fully grasp: there is no such thing as technological determinism.""

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