Supersonic Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age

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Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Notice
CHAPTER ONE
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August 1, 1955
CHAPTER TWO
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December 18, 1955
CHAPTER THREE
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June 21, 1956
CHAPTER FOUR
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September 4, 1957
CHAPTER FIVE
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October 4, 1957
CHAPTER SIX
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October 4, 1957
CHAPTER SEVEN
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October 5, 1957
CHAPTER EIGHT
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November 4, 1957
CHAPTER NINE
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December 18, 1957
CHAPTER TEN
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February 1, 1958
CHAPTER ELEVEN
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July 8, 1958
CHAPTER TWELVE
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July 15, 1958
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
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August 1, 1958
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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November 8, 1959
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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December 20, 1959
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
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December 31, 1959
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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February 14, 1960
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
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March 24, 1960
CHAPTER NINETEEN
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May 1, 1960
CHAPTER TWENTY
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September 6, 1960
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
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January 16, 1961
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
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April 17, 1961
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
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February 20, 1962
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
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April 26,1962
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
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July 10, 1962
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
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August 21, 1962
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
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October 14, 1962
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
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June 5, 1963
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
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September 7, 1963
CHAPTER THIRTY
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October 7, 1963
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
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October 28, 1963
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
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November 26, 1963
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
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December 31, 1963
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
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August 1, 1964
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
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December 22, 1964
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
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December 31, 1964
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
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January 6, 1965
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
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July 4, 1965
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
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July 5, 1965
CHAPTER FORTY
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September 7, 1965
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
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December 17, 1965
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
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January 27, 1966
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
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January 29, 1966
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
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February 14, 1966
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
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March 9, 1966
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
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September 21, 1966
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
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January 27, 1967
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
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February 27, 1967
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
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September 20, 1967
CHAPTER FIFTY
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January 8, 1968
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
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February 2, 1968
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
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March 28, 1968
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
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May 16, 1968
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
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July 8, 1968
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
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September 13, 1968
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
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December 31, 1968
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
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April 14, 1969
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
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September 1969
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
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December 24, 1969
CHAPTER SIXTY
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February 18, 1970
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
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December 31, 1971
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
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May 13, 1972
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
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September 23, 1972
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
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December 20, 1972
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
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February 10, 1973
AUTHOR’S NOTE
FORGE BOOKS BY WALTER J. BOYNE
Copyright Page

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE AMERICAN AIRMEN WHO SERVED IN THE VIETNAM WAR AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES.

CHAPTER ONE

August 1, 1955

Groom Lake, one hundred miles
northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada

V
ance 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 build—huge chest, massive arms and thighs—as 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 transport—and 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 enormously—almost religiously by some—for 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 build of a rangy middleweight boxer, LeVier stood up straight in front of Kelly so that they went at it nose-to-nose.

Shannon dropped down and pretended to draw a sketch on the ground. Rodriquez pretended to be absorbed in it as LeVier’s voice rose another octave.

“Goddammit, Kelly, you may be a great engineer, but you are no pilot. This bucket has a tail wheel, just like a Mustang or a P-47. I’m going to have to land it in a three-point attitude.”

“You dumb son of a bitch, look at this airplane. Do you see three landing gears?”

Rodriquez’s face flinched; in his youth, insults like this would have meant a fistfight. He raised an eyebrow at Shannon, who looked down steadfastly at the meaningless drawing he’d made in the sand.

Kelly went on, “No, you see one undercarriage strut with two wheels in the middle, and one tiny wheel at the tail. I want you to land on the main gear! But that’s not the problem. Look at that wing, for God’s sake.”

It was an extraordinary wing to be sure, eighty feet long, narrow as a sailplane’s, and seemingly too fragile to bear the weight of the fuselage. Each tip was bent down, supported by an outrigger wheel that was jettisoned after takeoff.

“I don’t want you stalling this airplane! If you are just a little off in your judgment of height, or if you pick up a little lift from ground effect and stall it, you’ll drop it in and it will shed its wings like a snake sheds its skin.”

LeVier was getting ready to counter when Kelly said, “Look, LeVier, case closed, land on the main gear like I’m telling you to, or I’ll get another boy.”

LeVier said something too low for Shannon and Rodriquez to hear, but not for Kelly, who replied, “The same to you, LeVier. Now get your ass in that airplane and land it like I’ve told you to land it.”