The Boeing YC-14 was prototype aircraft intended to replace the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. The aircraft never entered full production, and just two prototypes were built. Author John Wimpress was a member of the YC-14 design team, providing him intimate knowledge of this rare aircraft. The Boeing YC-14, being first flown in 1976, was an impressive aeronautical achievement. This aircraft signaled many firsts in aircraft design, the most prominent being the use of upper-surface blowing (which turned the jet engine flow downward), combined with boundary-layer control, to allow flight at amazingly low airspeeds. The YC-14 program management consistently embraced new technologies, such as the use of ?fly-by-light? flight controls and use of digital airframe design-technologies that would later become mainstream for Boeing. Although this book is about a specific airplane type, it is just as much about the YC-14 design team that created a multiorganizational culture, unafraid to "draw outside the lines," to create a dramatically capable airplane. To place the reader in the pilot's seat, Boeing and Air Force test pilots provide their reflections of the handling and performance of the YC-14. Equally intriguing, the challenges of designing a new airplane from start to finish are explored in detail. AUTHORS: John Wimpress, Boeing aerodynamicist and airplane designer, was involved with the design of most of Boeing's jet airplanes from the Air Force B-47 to the commercial 757. John was director of engineering on the US Air Force YC-14 STOL transport. He lives in Des Moines, Washington. SELLING POINTS: . Includes firsthand accounts about designing, building, and flying the YC-14. Author John Wimpress was director of engineering on the YC-14 project. . With short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability, the YC-14 was a complicated and futuristic design . Just two examples were built, one of which is on display at the Pima Air Museum in Arizona 145 colour and b/w photographs
