Colin, Benoit Jacques Pinier

L'aviation par amour, les essais par passion

Jacques Pinier is one of those pilots whom history has left in the shadows. Anyone interested in his career will become aware of the extraordinary revolution that French aviation underwent in less than twenty years between the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the 1960s. As a fighter pilot and later a test pilot, he embodies that generation of pioneers who accompanied aviation's entry into the supersonic age, sometimes paying with their lives. He died far too young and did not have time to put down on paper the story of his extraordinary life, which was entirely devoted to flying. Based on his career as a pilot, this book covers all the major technological changes in modern military aviation: from the propeller planes that survived the battles of 1939-1945 to jet fighters. Swept wings and delta wings, new engines that sometimes combined jet engines and rockets, the advent of guided missiles with the first rockets, dizzying speeds of up to Mach 2, flights to the limits of the stratosphere and even the first attempts at vertical take-offs. Never before had so many new technologies emerged in such a short period of time, imposing on test pilots an unprecedented wealth of experiences, risks and limits to be overcome. Immerse yourself in this exciting post-war period with Jacques Pinier, the unknown pilot. It is the story of a man who experienced unprecedented acceleration at the controls: within ten years, the speed of fighter planes tripled from 600 km/h for propeller planes to Mach 2 for the Mirage III. The fate of Jacques Pinier reveals an entire chapter of French aviation history, a golden age full of daring, innovation and courage, in which every flight wrote a little more of the future of aviation.