Contrails Over the Mojave: The Golden Age of Jet Flight Testing at Edwards Air Force Base

by George J. Marrett

In Contrails over the Mojave, Marrett takes off where author Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff ended in 1963. Marrett started the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB only two weeks after the school's commander, Col. Chuck Yeager, ejected from a Lockheed NF-104 trying to set a world altitude record. He describes life as a space cadet experiencing 15 Gs in a human centrifuge, zero-G maneuvers in a KC-135 'Vomit Comet,' and a flight to 80,000 feet in a Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. After graduating from Yeager's 'Charm School,' he was assigned to the Fighter Branch of Flight Test Operations for three years. There he flew the Air Force's latest fighter aircraft and chased other test aircraft like the X-15 rocket ship and the XB-70A Valkyrie as they set world speed and altitude records.
Marrett takes you into the cockpit with him going vertical in a T-38 Talon, high-G maneuvering in an F-4C Phantom and wet runway landing tests in the accident-prone F-111A Aardvark. Marrett relives stories of crashes when his test pilot friends were killed. He writes about Air Force test pilot Col. 'Silver Fox' Stephens setting a world speed record in the YF-12 Blackbird and Lockheed test pilot Bob Gilliland flying a single-engine, minimum-control speed stall in the SR-71 spy plane. He recounts dead-sticking a T-38 to a landing on Rogers Dry Lake after a twin-engine failure and conducting dangerous tail hook barrier testing in a fighter jet without a canopy. Marrett also writes about a UFO sighting in the night sky above the Mojave Desert, a mysterious sighting now referred to as 'The Edwards Encounter.'

Genres: Aviation

230 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[Terry Cornell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining read of flight testing at Edwards AFB during the late 1950s through the later 1960s. If you enjoyed 'The Right Stuff', you would like this book written by a real test pilot stationed at Edwards. Some of this work might seem a little technical, I'm not a pilot but I am familiar with much of the terminology and flying controls in aircraft. Marrett has a conversational voice, and his memoir includes his early endeavors that led him to being stationed at Edwards and being enrolled in the USAF Aerospace Flight Test School. The book concludes with his being reassigned to fly AH-1 Skyraiders during the Vietnam War in 1967. Much of his memoir chronicles the loss of friends and co-workers in the perils of flight testing. The book includes photos, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, resources used and an index.

One reason I so identify with Marrrett's work is that I grew up in Palmdale, California during part of this time period. Palmdale is about 40 miles south of Edwards AFB and the Plant 42 facility there is often used for training flights from Edwards. I have spent most of my life here in 'Aerospace Valley'. I've seen several of these planes in flight, and some on ground display. My dad worked and retired from Edwards, and one of his early assignments as an Airman was serving as a crew chief at the Test Pilot's School. The house I'm living in now was owned by a retired USAF Colonel and Northrup test pilot. Much of my reading was done in my front entryway accompanied by the rumble of NASA U-2s on take off, sometimes F-35s on training flights, or occasionally a B-1 or B-2 bomber. You couldn't have a better soundtrack!

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the academic and professional life of George J. Marrett, an accomplished test pilot and jet fighter. However, most of the story is focused on the accomplishments and fates of his comrades. The book begins well, hinting at the energy and lifestyle of the test pilot fraternity that Tom Wolfe baked into The Right Stuff. However, momentum is lost by the middle of the book, where the text seems to be more of a cataloging of aircraft modifications than a retelling of life experiences. Especially as somebody who's unfamiliar with aviation specifics, I was sometimes lost (or bored) with all the tech specs. This book might be great for more of an Air Force enthusiast - somebody with more background knowledge of avionics or jet fighter design. Though it did follow a "chasing the whistle" approach -similar to Wolfe's "climbing the pyramid"- I felt it lacked emphasis on the storytelling of the intense lives of test pilots. Of course, the test pilot school was only part of Marrett's career. And, Marrett's more formal biographical storytelling approach to the 'Golden Age' of flying at Edwards AFB was a bit sobering after reading Wolfe's more romantic story. That being said, Contrails Over the Mojave was a great follow-up to The Right Stuff (though it wasn't intended to be), as it turned the camera back to Col. Chuck Yeager and Pancho Barnes a bit. The epilogue -not the final chapter- is what completes the book. In this section, Marrett informs the reader not only that the 'Golden Age' of flying at Edwards is over, but also that the remnants of these wonder years (the buildings, the planes, the people) -if they even exist- are now relics, monumentalized as displays primarily in air & space museums. Contrails Over the Mojave ends well, as it begins well, but the middle of the book fails to ignite or relay a sense of passion for the dangerous 'Golden Age' profession.

[William Matthies · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy non fiction, in particular, that pertaining to WWII and the period immediately following. This book is a little of both. I enjoyed it however my rating shows not as much as many others. Nonetheless if you are an aviation fan with particular interest in jet flight testing in the 50's, it is worth your time.