Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10785 in Books
• Published on: 1991-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

The remarkable story of a remarkable man
If you have not yet heard of Sir Stanley Hooker, this will come as a treat. As a young (and brilliant) mathematician he joined Rolls Royce near the outbreak of WW2 - to find that the Merlin engine which powered the all-important Hurricane and Spitfire was down on power due to a supercharger design flaw that only he had spotted due to his mathematical abilities. In finding that extra power he will have earned the gratitude of a generation of pilots and by extension the gratitude of the nation whose existence depended on their ability to out-fly the invaders.
There is more... Throughout the war he continuously extended the development of the aircraft enigine superchargers that he had mastered, and became one of the first to appreciate and support Whittle in the development of the Jet Engine. Hooker was one of the key figures in the success of Rolls Royce jet engines, and went on to develop the Key ingredient in the Harrier Jump-jet, it's dedicated power plant.
And more, much more....
"Not much of an Engineer" has its dramatic personal twists, and Hooker is ruthless with what he saw as his own personal failings. In addition to his mathematical and engineering skills, he writes both fluently and with feeling.
Beg, borrow, or buy it, and read it. Highly recommended.

A very easy read on a difficult subject (Turbine engines)
As a lover of Autobiographies I thought this book was very easy to read and also a bit of an aid to my personal studies. I have a lot of respect for this man who brought Rolls Royce out of a rut of self destruction.Anybody with an interest in aviation should enjoy this but it is an easy read. The equations in the back of the book are very easy to understand.
Enjoy...

Autobiography of Britain's leading 20th Century engineer.
Stanley Hooker was probably Britain's foremost engineer of the 20th Century. An outstanding mathematician, he doubled the power of the RR Merlin, designed the Pegasus in today's Harrier, and, with Sir Kenneth Keith, rescued Rolls-Royce from oblivion. This book is a highly readable account of his contribution to aviation. The son of a Sheerness docker, he writes with clarity, pace and humour. Technical topics are contained in a full appendix, the principal one being the formula he developed which enabled him to transform the Merlin and, hence, the Spitfire, by boosting the input of the one and then two superchargers.

Bill Bedford, the Harrier's original test pilot, publicly wondered if Hooker was actually Britain's greatest engineer ever. Read this book and decide for yourself.