Read Roaring Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age Online
Authors: Walter J. Boyne
Tex and Dix Loesh climbed aboard the Dash 80, as everyone called it, and soon the beautiful airplane was moving down toward the end of the runway. Vance felt Jill’s hand creep into his. He glanced at his sons, both staring raptly at the airplane. Anna and Nancy were fussing over V.R., ignoring the moment.
There was a roar and a blast of black smoke as Johnston first gave the Dash 80 full throttle, then released the brakes. The aircraft leaped forward and twenty-one hundred feet later was airborne. The crowd was on its feet, some yelling, some crying, a few, especially Bill Allen, probably praying.
The Dash 80, followed by a company chase plane, a leased T-33, climbed away toward Mount Rainier and the crowd began to thin out. Schairer was occupied with his company people, but he said, “Stick around, Vance. Tex is going to fly about an hour and a half, if all goes well, then come back and land. It will be worth waiting for.”
Vance took his family over to the shade of a hangar. After an hour of waiting, V.R. was crying and Nancy asked if Tom could take her back to the hotel. Anna and Jill decided to go along, so Harry left as well. Vance said he’d get a ride or a cab back.
Schairer came over to say good-bye to them and when they were gone turned and asked, “Well, Vance, what are you going to do next?”
“I’m sixty, you know, George, probably going to have to be put away in some home for old pilots. Actually, I’m thinking about taking Jill on a cruise, maybe turn the business mostly over to the boys.”
“That’s a little hard for me to believe, Vance. I understand you and Bill Lear are working on a jet of your own.”
“What an industry! Nobody can keep a secret. Yeah, we’re playing with an idea for an executive jet. It’s hard to
figure out what the market will be, but Bill’s intrigued, and he’s a guy who can make things happen. But the truth is, I’m going to be spending a lot of time over at Lockheed for the next couple of years. Kelly Johnson has some projects cooking there that are just unbelievable. And . . .”—a little ruefully,—“they are good at keeping them secret, God bless them, a lot better than I am.”
“Well, keep a little time on your clock for us; we’ve got a few things in the mill as well.”
They heard the roar of four jet engines coming, and they turned to watch Tex Johnston make a flawless approach and landing in the Dash 80. He taxied in, and Bill Allen, visibly relieved, was the first man to greet Tex when he bounded out of the Dash 80’s entrance.
“Bill, you’ve got yourself a good airplane. That sixteen million was well spent.”
Vance Shannon watched Bill Allen blossom as the weight soared from his shoulders. He seemed to grow an inch in height as he stood there, slapping big Tex Johnston on the back.
Then Vance felt Schairer’s elbow prodding him.
“It’s a winner; I can tell by the smile on Johnston’s face. He never kids around.”
Shannon nodded, smiling as everyone else was doing. He walked around the big Dash 80, not so pristine now, a little oil visible on the engine cowlings, creaking as it cooled. It was one magnificent machine. He thought about Harry’s briefing back at Wright Field, when he had shown the drawing of the first jet, the Heinkel 178. This was where that little single-engine airplane, a test vehicle, pure and simple, had led. Jet aviation had progressed rapidly, despite the turbulent world into which it had been born. All over the world men and women had advanced the science despite the ravages of war, the uncertainty of peace, and the new and blinding threat of nuclear combat. No matter what was happening, wherever there were pilots and engineers, new and better jet planes emerged,
each one seeking to stretch the bounds of human endeavor. Sadly, so far the greatest advances had come in military weapons.
Shannon walked on the hot Boeing tarmac a distance away from the gleaming transport and surveyed it at a distance. It was clearly a turning point, and he wondered where the Dash 80 would lead in the next phase of the jet age.
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