Reinventing the Propeller: Aeronautical Specialty and the Triumph of the Modern

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Reinventing the Propeller documents this story of a forgotten technology to reveal new perspectives on the technical development of the airplane and the rise of modern aviation. As a scholarly history of the airplane propeller, this book will appeal to specialists and general readers interested in aeronautical history, the history of flight, and science and technology.

FORMATHardcover LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

An international community of specialists reinvented the propeller during the Aeronautical Revolution, a vibrant period of innovation in North America and Europe from World War I to the end of World War II. They experienced both success and failure as they created competing designs that enabled increasingly sophisticated and 'modern' commercial and military aircraft to climb quicker and cruise faster using less power. Reinventing the Propeller nimbly moves from the minds of these inventors to their drawing boards, workshops, research and development facilities, and factories, and then shows us how their work performed in the air, both commercially and militarily. Reinventing the Propeller documents this story of a forgotten technology to reveal new perspectives on engineering, research and development, design, and the multi-layered social, cultural, financial, commercial, industrial, and military infrastructure of aviation.

Author Biography

Jeremy R. Kinney is a Curator in the Aeronautics Department of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC. Kinney received his PhD in the history of technology in 2003 from Auburn University, Alabama. His research and curatorial focus is aeronautics in the first half of the twentieth century, with a specific emphasis on interwar and World War II military aviation, air racing, and aircraft propulsion technology. His publications include Alaska and the Airplane: A Century of Flight (with Julie Decker, 2013), Airplanes: The Life Story of a Technology (2008), and the award-winning The Wind and Beyond: Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America (with James R. Hansen, D. Bryan Taylor and J. Lawrence Lee, 2009), essays in various anthologies, and articles in ICON and the Journal of Aircraft.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. The propeller and the modern airplane; 2. 'The best propeller for starting is not the best for flying'; 3. 'Engineering of a pioneer character'; 4. A 'new type adjustable-pitch propeller'; 5. 'The propeller that took Lindbergh across'; 6. 'The ultimate solution of our propeller problem'; 7. No. 1 propeller company; 8. A gear shift for the airplane; 9. Constant-speed; 10. 'The Spitfire now 'is an aeroplane''; 11. A propeller for the air age; 12. Conclusion. The triumph and decline of the propeller; Essay on sources; Index.

Review

'Jeremy R. Kinney's masterful study of the evolution of the aircraft propeller not only represents an important contribution to the history of flight technology, it is also that rare specialist account that illuminates broader questions in the development of complex technical systems.' Tom D. Crouch, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution'Jeremy R. Kinney illuminates the long-neglected mechanisms which propelled crafts of the air through the early 20th century and the Second World War. In this replete and comprehensive book, Dr. Kinney at last has supplied the missing pieces to the puzzle of powered flight.' C. Evan Davies, Institute of Historical Survey, New Mexico'Thanks to Jeremy R. Kinney we now have the first comprehensive treatment of the aircraft propeller as a component of the international technical and cultural revolution that transformed the airplane more than three-quarters of a century ago. Anyone seeking new insight into the history of heavier-than-air flight and the complexity of technological change will want to read this important book.' William F. Trimble, Auburn University, Alabama'Thoroughly researched and remarkably well written, Reinventing the Propeller provides the first truly contextualized history of this crucial piece of aeronautical technology as well as the international community that developed it. It is a must-read for historians of technology and airplane aficionados alike.' Alan Meyer, Auburn University, Alabama'It is written from an American viewpoint but covers developments in Britain and Germany in some detail. This is fair, because the United States led the development of propellers between the two World Wars. … The book provides an excellent and detailed account of the development of propellers from the start of powered flight to the 1960s, when turbojet propulsion became dominant. … it is a book well worth reading.' C. G. B. Mitchell, Afterburner'… the book is well-researched, well-informed, and richly detailed. It is likely to remain the last word on this subject for years to come.' Alex Roland, Technology and Culture

Promotional

This book explores a technology that transformed airplanes into safe, practical tools of war and a means of transportation during the first half of the twentieth century.

Review Quote

Advance praise: 'Thoroughly researched and remarkably well written, Reinventing the Propeller provides the first truly contextualized history of this crucial piece of aeronautical technology as well as the international community that developed it. It is a must-read for historians of technology and airplane aficionados alike.' Alan Meyer, Auburn University, Alabama

Promotional "Headline"

This book explores a technology that transformed airplanes into safe, practical tools of war and a means of transportation during the first half of the twentieth century.

Description for Bookstore

Reinventing the Propeller documents this story of a forgotten technology to reveal new perspectives on the technical development of the airplane and the rise of modern aviation. As a scholarly history of the airplane propeller, this book will appeal to specialists and general readers interested in aeronautical history, the history of flight, and science and technology.

Description for Library

Reinventing the Propeller documents this story of a forgotten technology to reveal new perspectives on the technical development of the airplane and the rise of modern aviation. As a scholarly history of the airplane propeller, this book will appeal to specialists and general readers interested in aeronautical history, the history of flight, and science and technology.

Details ISBN1107142865 ISBN-10 1107142865 ISBN-13 9781107142862 Format Hardcover Series Cambridge Centennial of Flight Imprint Cambridge University Press Subtitle Aeronautical Specialty and the Triumph of the Modern Airplane Place of Publication Cambridge Country of Publication United Kingdom Publisher Cambridge University Press Author Jeremy R. Kinney Media Book Year 2017 DEWEY 629.13 Pages 386 Affiliation National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC Publication Date 2017-03-24 Short Title Reinventing the Propeller Language English UK Release Date 2017-03-24 AU Release Date 2017-03-24 NZ Release Date 2017-03-24 Alternative 9781316529744 Illustrations 4 Tables, black and white; 25 Halftones, black and white Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this

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