The LONELY SKY

Inscribed and signed on the front end paper by

Bill Bridgeman

” Best regards Bryan.  Hope I get Hunting Clan assignment. Sincerely, Bill Bridgeman”

Presentation copy to British test pilot Bryan Greensted (1915–94). Bryan served as Chief Test Pilot at Rotol in 1939, and his experience with contra‑rotating props put him in the cockpit for the first flight of the superb Martin‑Baker MB5. After the war he moved to Skyways as Chief Pilot, where he logged more hours in the Berlin Airlift than any other civilian pilot. He later became Chief Pilot of Hunting Clan, almost certainly where he crossed paths with Bridgeman, as Hunting Clan operated the DC‑6. By retirement, Greensted had amassed 22,000 hours on 80 different aircraft types.

Henry Holt First Edition, fourth printing 1956.  316 pages and well illustrated with photos

The hardback is in Fine condition, bound in two‑tone blue boards with silver‑gilt titles; clean, bright and tight. The unclipped dust jacket is Near Fine, showing only light wear at the spine ends. A sharp, fresh copy.

From the dustjacket: “The personal story of one of America’s most active test pilots. This is the powerful and often thrilling story of a man who daily enters that lonely region beyond the speed of sound. A narrative of needle-nosed ships flying at blistering speeds, it is also the moving testament of a man risking his life to push back the frontiers of scientific knowledge. Like St.-Exupery, Bridgeman is capable of describing the vastness and beauty of the skies. But as America’s foremost experimental test pilot, he is constantly aware of the multitude of technical information which he is called upon to use at any given instant”

Bridgeman began in B‑24s over the Pacific. After a brief post‑war stint as an airline pilot, he sought more excitement and joined Douglas as an engineering test pilot. Before long he was handed the final phase of the Skyrocket programme. The javelin‑shaped experimental aircraft pushed him hard, and ‘The Lonely Sky’ follows his day‑to‑day struggle to master it.

In 1951 flying the Skyrocket, Bridgeman set world speed and altitude records of Mach 1.88 and 79,494 feet. He vanished in 1968 while flying over the Pacific; no trace was ever found.

A cornerstone of American test‑pilot memoirs, this classic has been reprinted many times. Signed copies are scarce and will appeal to anyone fascinated by post‑war record‑breaking and high‑speed research flying.