{"product_id":"9780571272181-secondhand-empire-of-the-clouds-when-britains-aircraft-ruled-the-world","title":"Empire of the Clouds: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World","description":"In 1945, Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, and intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex. Just what was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war moment when innovative new British aircraft made their debut, and pilots were the rock stars of the age?\n\nJames Hamilton-Paterson captures that season of glory in a compelling book that fuses his own memories of being a schoolboy plane spotter with a ruefully realistic history of British decline - its loss of self confidence and power. It is the story of great and charismatic machines and the men who flew them: heroes such as Bill Waterton, Neville Duke, John Derry and Bill Beaumont who took inconceivable risks, so that we could fly without a second thought.","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49033268035803,"sku":"9780571272181-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/d1a284d8-0317-448e-9002-d2506f950d41.jpg?v=1785237279","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/9780571272181-secondhand-empire-of-the-clouds-when-britains-aircraft-ruled-the-world","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}