{"product_id":"9781416562962","title":"The Dream Machine : The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Dream Machine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Richard Whittle\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWHEN THE MARINES decided to buy a helicopter-airplane hybrid “tiltrotor” called the V-22 Osprey, they saw it as their dream machine.\u003c\/b\u003e The tiltrotor was the aviation equivalent of finding the Northwest Passage: an aircraft able to take off, land, and hover with the agility of a helicopter yet fly as fast and as far as an airplane. Many predicted it would reshape civilian aviation. The Marines saw it as key to their very survival. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBy 2000, the Osprey was nine years late and billions over budget, bedeviled by technological hurdles, business rivalries, and an epic political battle over whether to build it at all. Opponents called it one of the worst boondoggles in Pentagon history. The Marines were eager to put it into service anyway. Then two crashes killed twenty- three Marines. They still refused to abandon the Osprey, even after the Corps’ own proud reputation was tarnished by a national scandal over accusations that a commander had ordered subordinates to lie about the aircraft’s problems. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBased on in-depth research and hundreds of interviews, \u003ci\u003eThe Dream Machine\u003c\/i\u003e recounts the Marines’ quarter-century struggle to get the Osprey into combat. Whittle takes the reader from the halls of the Pentagon and Congress to the war zone of Iraq, from the engineer’s drafting table to the cockpits of the civilian and Marine pilots who risked their lives flying the Osprey—and sometimes lost them. He reveals the methods, motives, and obsessions of those who designed, sold, bought, flew, and fought for the tiltrotor. These stories, including never before published eyewitness accounts of the crashes that made the Osprey notorious, not only chronicle an extraordinary chapter in Marine Corps history, but also provide a fascinating look at a machine that could still revolutionize air travel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“[A] book that takes off like a novel and flies like a well-sourced historical investigation.” —Gretel C. Kovach , \u003ci\u003eThe \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Diego Union-Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“What makes \u003ci\u003eThe Dream Machine\u003c\/i\u003e interesting is the light it sheds on Washington's ‘permanent government,’ the lobbyists and consultants and bureaucrats and contractors… One of the lessons of Whittle's book is that no one misses a chance to swim in the giant pool of money and power that is the nation's capital, where the defense industry is the biggest fish of all.” —Matthew Continetti, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A wonderful combination of personal drama, technological detective story, military history, and . . . a valuable and engrossing book that will be read for many years to come.” —James Fallows, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The definitive biography of this embattled bird’s troubled development and initial deployment. Whittle weaves an engrossing tale as much about people as about this complex machine.” —Lee Gaillard, \u003ci\u003eRaleigh News Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Like the helicopter-airplane that tantalized generals, engineers, and pilots for decades, \u003ci\u003eThe Dream Machine\u003c\/i\u003e is also an irresistible hybrid—a cross between \u003ci\u003eThe Soul of a New Machine\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBlack Hawk Down\u003c\/i\u003e.” —Brad Matsen\u003cbr\u003e“The long, costly, and bloody tale of this hybrid bird, which has taken thirty years . . . to go from blueprints to battlefield. . . . A great yarn for those in love with military gee-whiz technology and aviation.” —Mark Thompson, \u003ci\u003eWashington Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A gripping tale of the development, near-death, and final redemption of one of the most controversial and fascinating aircraft ever flown.” —\u003ci\u003eAir \u0026amp; Space\u003c\/i\u003e magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781416562962\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40591359934670,"sku":"9781416562962","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_5ddf27e9-4a64-4082-963b-dd9a981dc9c6.jpg?v=1637752054","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781416562962","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}