Boeing YC-14

The Boeing YC-14, being first flown in 1976, was an impressive aeronautical achievement. This aircraft signaled many firsts in aircraft design, the most prominent being the use of upper-surface blowing (which turned the jet engine flow downward), combined with boundary-layer control, to allow flight at amazingly low airspeeds. The YC-14 program management consistently embraced new technologies, such as the use of fly-by-light flight controls and use of digital airframe designtechnologies that would later become mainstream for Boeing. Although this book is about a specific airplane type, it is just as much about the YC-14 design team that created a multiorganizational culture, unafraid to draw outside the lines, to create a dramatically capable airplane. To place the reader in the pilots seat, Boeing and Air Force test pilots provide their reflections of the handling and performance of the YC-14. Equally intriguing, the challenges of designing a new airplane from start to finish are explored in detail.