Supersonic Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age (Novels of the Jet Age)

Chapter One August 1, 1955 Groom Lake, one hundred miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada Vance Shannon had made many first flights in experimental aircraft, but standing in the shadow of Kelly Johnson's latest triumph, he was glad he wasn't making this one. Called either the Angel, for its high-altitude capability, or the Article, as an informal code name, the beautifully strange aircraft was so secret that it had not yet been given an official designation. Working with Kelly as a consulting engineer was difficult enough, for Johnson was a genius with a low tolerance for opposition or even suggestions unless they were overburdened with merit. But to be a test pilot for him was a nightmare, as the equally testy and opinionated Tony LeVier had long since discovered. As he stood listening to their argument while trying not to appear to be eavesdropping, Shannon motioned Bob Rodriquez to his side. Bob had just been made a partner in Shannon's firm, Aviation Consultants, something Vance had not yet disclosed to his twin sons, Tom and Harry, knowing that they would not approve. "Listen to this, Bob; it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear a genius engineer and a genius test pilot going toe-to-toe!" The short, dark, and handsome Rodriquez rather resembled a miniature Cesar Romero. He conscientiously cast his eyes up to the empty skies, appearing to be searching for a break in the clouds, as he listened to the increasingly loud argument. Kelly Johnson was big, five feet, eleven inches, tall and weighing well over two hundred pounds. He had developed his stevedore buildhuge chest, massive arms and thighsas a youth working in construction, making and putting up laths for plaster work in the days before drywall. All the muscle supported a giant intellect, for Kelly had earned stellar marks working his way through the University of Michigan, doing everything from washing dishes to subcontracting out the university's wind tunnel for the design of Studebaker racing cars. Then he had talked his way into a job at Lockheed, where his first contribution was to criticize his boss's design for a new transportand be right. From then on there was no stopping Kelly and all his personality quirks were overlooked in appreciation of his raw genius. As a boss, he could be a genial collaborator, given to spine-collapsing congratulatory slaps on the back. He could also be a monster, reacting chemically when he discovered an error and seldom hesitating to administer a good kick to the rear of the erring engineer. It could not be said that Kelly was loved by his subordinates, but he was admired enormouslyalmost religiously by somefor his brilliant insights, his ability to not only "see the air" around a new design but also sense intuitively the points where heat or stress or fatigue or production costs might be a problem. Today the problem was that Tony LeVier dared to have a different opinion. At forty-two, LeVier was only three years younger than Kelly, and as the dean of Lockheed test pilots was confident enough to stand up to Johnson in a way few men dared. Before the war, LeVier had set the pylons blazing at the Cleveland Air Races, flying cobbled-up aircraft with tiny wings and big engines. Lockheed hired him as a test pilot, and he became an expert in the P-38 Lightning, sent around the world to show pilots how to fly it with one engine dead, the propeller feathered. After the war he was the first to fly the F-94, the T-33, and Kelly's latest product from the Skunk Works, the "missile with a man in it," the XF-104 Starfighter. LeVier had crashed at least eight times in his test work and was not a whit intimidated by Kelly. With the buildWalter J. Boyne is the author of 'Supersonic Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age (Novels of the Jet Age)', published 2006 under ISBN 9780765308443 and ISBN 0765308444.