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hartwell hartwell
 
December 16, 2008 06:13 PM

Please identify a book I read in the 70's.

This was a novel that dealt with the flight testing of a super-sonic passenger airplane. There was a sub plot about one of the female engineers falling in love with a test pilot. Another subplot involved a problem where some noise from the engines rendered passengers permanently deaf after a few hours of flight. It may be that this was a reader's digest condensed book, but I've been through the list of those titles at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader's_Digest_Condensed_Books and nothing stood out as my correct answer.

Thanks,

Hartwell
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daha daha
 
 December 16, 2008 08:12 PM
I don't have the answer for you, but I think you're in the right direction looking at the Reader's Digest Condensed Books. I'm pretty sure I read this one too, and it would have been middle 1970s when I read it, but very possibly the volume was from the 1960s.

I think there was a woman scientist who was accompanying some biological samples on the plane during its early flights - and the samples kept dying during the flight. The answer turned out to be the hypersonic noise from the air compressors, and the same noise was causing the woman to go deaf.

Once they figured this out, they were able to replace the compressors with a different model, and the plane could go into production, and the company that was making it was saved!

I've been reading through the title list for the Condensed Book series, 60s and 70s, and none of them seems right to me either. Oh well.
Source(s):
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Reader%27s-Digest-Condensed-Books

Asker's Rating:
• this answer verified some of my memories of the book. sure wish i had a title.


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hartwell hartwell
 
December 17, 2008 05:49 AM
i've googled every single title on that list (except for the obvious mismatches like _Bless the Beasts and the Children_ !)

Still looking though, thanks for the encouragement, and yes, the details you added ring true to my memories.

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carriep carriep
 
December 16, 2008 07:59 PM
Was it perhaps Roaring Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age? Or Supersonic Thunder the sequel? Written by Walter J. Boyne.

Looks to be a historical fiction of sorts.

Main characters Vince Shannon, Kelly Johnson...

Any of this ring a bell?
Source(s):
http://www.amazon.com/Roaring-Thunder-Novel-Jet-Age/dp/0765308436/ref=sr_1_...

http://www.amazon.com/Supersonic-Thunder-Novel-Jet-Age/dp/B001G7RDME/ref=sr...


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hartwell hartwell
 
December 17, 2008 05:44 AM
nope, but thanks... both look interesting and i've added them to my queue at the library. i read this book no later than 1981, and probably 1975 or so. The Boyne novels are from 2006. (and perhaps a third in the series coming next year!)

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honestape honestape
 
December 18, 2008 02:21 AM
It wouldn't be Mayday by Nelson Demille, would it? Not quite the same story as you describe, but close. And hell, you last read it 30 years ago, right?

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hartwell hartwell
 
December 18, 2008 04:50 AM
No, but that's been added to my reading list!

"Twelve miles above the Pacific Ocean, a missile strikes a jumbo passenger jet. The flight crew is crippled or dead. Now, defying both nature and man, three survivors must achieve the impossible: Land the plane.

From master storyteller Nelson DeMille and master pilot Thomas Block comes the classic bestseller that packs a supersonic shock at every turn of the page. The most horrifyingly realistic air disaster thriller ever written, it will make you grip your seat in terror. "

my library has it as an electronic resource, we'll see if i can coax the library into beleiving that my linux PDF reader is as good as Adobe.

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filmkid filmkid
 
December 18, 2008 03:12 AM
The Concorde Affair by Melinda Wright?
Source(s):
Google searching


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hartwell hartwell
 
December 18, 2008 04:53 AM
I doubt it. Good try though!

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