The Enterprise of Flight: The American Aviation and Aerospace Industry. . - Touch and Go - book review

Aerospace Power Journal, Spring, 2002

The Enterprise of Flight: The American Aviation and Aerospace Industry by Roger E. Bilstein. Smithsonian Institution Press (http://www.si.edu/sipress), SI Building, Room 153, Washington, D.C. 20560-0010, 2001, 304 pages, $19.95 (softcover).

Roger Bilstein gained great credibility with Flight in America, his pioneer, sweeping volume on American aviation. The Enterprise of Flight, an updated paperback edition that continues the study of aircraft manufacture and production, is very useful for understanding important aspects of military aviation, especially the interwar years that gave birth to the US Air Force. Bilstein studies both the technology and international competition associated with aircraft manufacture, covering not only American airlines but also the military. In a new introduction, he also discusses the F-22 Raptor in relation to the American aviation industry and makes observations about space, missiles, and rockets.