This is a story of aviation, risk and the heart of the pilot. Four out of five fatal aircraft accidents are due to human error; three out of five to pilot error. This book examines the technical aspects of these issues from the viewpoint of one of the UK's most experienced aviation cardiologists. It spans the end of the Second World War through teaching cardiology in aviation on behalf of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) worldwide, via a history of powered flight, time in the cadet force, a flying scholarship on a Tiger Moth, training to be a doctor, later a cardiologist, and owing a series of aircraft. Michael Joy was appointed as cardiologist to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 1974 to assist the regulator in the development of standards of cardiological fitness. Error, risk and accident causation are introduced in the context of various fatal accidents. In this stimulating and highly informative autobiography, Michael looks back at his time with the ICAO and CAA, drafting cardiological standards for Europe and worldwide travel to spread the message, including the Khyber pass, an aircraft factory in the Indonesian jungle and the slave island of Goree in Senegal. Safety is no accident and history is its judge.

The pressres acting on the base of blunt-trailing-edge airfoils have been measured at Mach numbers of 1.25, 1.5, 2.0, and 3.1 and at Reynolds numbers from 0.2 to 3.8 million. Data are presented for 29 profiles both with laminar and with turbulent boundary layers approaching the trailing edges of the wings. The base pressure is found to be a function primarily of Mach number and the ratio of the boundary layer thickeness at the trailing edge to the trailing-edge thickness.

The effects of wing trailing-edge control surfaces on the static transonic aerodynamic characteristics of a transport configuration with a supercritical wing were studied. The configuration was tested with both an area-ruled fuselage and a cylindrical fuselage. The Mach number range was from 0.80 to 0.96 and the angle of attack range was from -1 deg to 12 deg. The Reynolds number was 1,580,000 based on the mean aerodynamic chord. Tabular data are presented.