http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1909545361

The Air Force and the Great Engine War

The story focuses on the complex considerations and interactions which permeate every step in bringing a major weapon system from a mental image to the drawing board, to production, and on to operational use. Along the way the work is saturated with incessant concerns over congressional actions, inter- Service rivalry, interstaff squabbles, and contractor posturing as well as hard- core problems with the technology. The objective of this book is to demonstrate how individuals working in an environment of seemingly endless distractions and frustrations can still have a vision of what makes sense and persist in making the ideal and reality. Initially this book was to concentrate only on the events beginning in the early 1980s when the Air Force started bringing General Electric and Pratt and Whitney together again in a head-to-head competition for future requirements. However, as research progressed it became clear that to appreciate the significance of this formal competition, the earlier struggles with the engine and mounting emotional intensity must be understood as well. Furthermore, the message must also be conveyed that the problem engine, the F100 built by Pratt, is, nevertheless, a marvelous machine. Therefore, in telling the story I have tried to include the many positive aspects of the engine's performance.

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