Post by teleman on Jan 6, 2009 22:08:20 GMT -5
I first read North Cape as a lad with what I believe might have been the first hardcover version. It had an interesting (though not very accurate) cover with the silhouette of a F-105 portrayed. Re-reading it (in a paperback version I found at a used book store) recently, I'd forgotten how advanced it was. The heavily computerized aircraft design; with performance that is still far ahead of where we are at now is pretty remarkable.
One thing that I found really inspiring was the imaginative design of the A-17's thingypit. After reading the book I went from drawing airplanes from the outside, to drawing them from the inside. In particular futuristic thingypit designs. I had the opportunity later to do this for real in the early design phase of what later became the F-22 Rapter.
Another aspect of the aircraft that was prescient was in the description of the engines. The A-17 predated the SR-71, which uses variable cycle engines that become 80% or so ramjet at high speeds. Not quite the turbo/ram/rocket capability of the A-17, but in the same genre. It's amazing that Joe was able to gather that information from his source at Pratt and Whitney.
Another interesting comparison with modern aircraft design is the A-17s use of ECM. This was described at a level far beyond anything at the time. Of course stealth technology offered the path to "invisibility" without extensive ECM. Though Lockheed definitely knew how to design an aircraft with a reduced radar return (i.e. U-2, A-12, SR-71) stealth was still a few years in the future at the time North Cape was written.
A final thought is Joe Poyer compared to Tom Clancy. I have to admit I find Poyer's work to be more well thought out and better researched that Clancy's. Also, without the "Walter Mitty" character design that Clancy's books display. Were Poyer's books too far ahead of their time? I think maybe so. The anti-military and anti-tech attitude of the late 1960s and early 1970s could not have been he best time to publish a book like this.
One thing that I found really inspiring was the imaginative design of the A-17's thingypit. After reading the book I went from drawing airplanes from the outside, to drawing them from the inside. In particular futuristic thingypit designs. I had the opportunity later to do this for real in the early design phase of what later became the F-22 Rapter.
Another aspect of the aircraft that was prescient was in the description of the engines. The A-17 predated the SR-71, which uses variable cycle engines that become 80% or so ramjet at high speeds. Not quite the turbo/ram/rocket capability of the A-17, but in the same genre. It's amazing that Joe was able to gather that information from his source at Pratt and Whitney.
Another interesting comparison with modern aircraft design is the A-17s use of ECM. This was described at a level far beyond anything at the time. Of course stealth technology offered the path to "invisibility" without extensive ECM. Though Lockheed definitely knew how to design an aircraft with a reduced radar return (i.e. U-2, A-12, SR-71) stealth was still a few years in the future at the time North Cape was written.
A final thought is Joe Poyer compared to Tom Clancy. I have to admit I find Poyer's work to be more well thought out and better researched that Clancy's. Also, without the "Walter Mitty" character design that Clancy's books display. Were Poyer's books too far ahead of their time? I think maybe so. The anti-military and anti-tech attitude of the late 1960s and early 1970s could not have been he best time to publish a book like this.