Burrows, Ron Cold War Test Pilot. Surviving Crash Landings and Emergency Ejections, from Fast-jets to Heavy Multi-engine Aircraft

The Falkland Islands had been captured and a task force was already travelling south at full speed. On board the aircraft carriers were the Harriers, which were to provide the necessary air cover for the British troops and ships sent to recapture the islands. They would be entering particularly hostile territory and the capabilities of the type urgently needed to be expanded and proven. Ron Burrows and the test pilots of his elite fighter test squadron at Boscombe Down were ready to take on the task: From the 1960s to the 1990s, Ron Burrows flew all of the RAF's fast jet aircraft, surviving two crash landings and two emergency exits, as well as numerous other close calls. A master of his trade, he rose to become Chief Test Pilot of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment - and this is his remarkable story: with four test flights and close air support missions with fighters in the Aden Crisis, Ron gained a wealth of experience in the critical final decades of the Cold War. A graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School, Ron has flown an unusually wide range of US and British aircraft in his long career, from fast jets to heavy multi-engine aircraft. With his unrivalled knowledge and experience, Ron is able to explain the methods, techniques and requirements of his profession, with many examples of what can and often does go wrong in the development and testing of aircraft. His descriptions of his near misses and catastrophic accidents are colourful and candidly written. But he also seeks to inform the reader about the skills required to fly and test fast jets and the development of cockpit displays and designs, highlighting some of the issues and problems encountered during development and operation. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong - could be the subtitle of this frank and witty account that flies along at the speed of one of these fast jets.