How to Keep a Plane in the Sky

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We take our seat on an aeroplane and settle in. We trust that the engines will start and keep running. That the fuselage will keep us safe. That we will lift into the sky and reach our destination safely.

What we don’t generally consider is the wild, unseen world of test engineering that makes all this possible: the hidden heroes who bend plane wings to breaking point, zap them with artificial lightning and repeatedly smash their tires into the ground until they reach breaking point.

From ‘childproof’ bottle caps to the cars we ride and the bridges we cross, such stories shape the products we use each and every day. They underpin our trust in the objects that we generally expect to work as anticipated and not (unexpectedly) crack, blow up or spontaneously collapse.

As Alex Davies reveals, this amazing reliability is thanks to the mostly invisible, maniacal, yet methodical work of test engineers, who divine how everything and anything could go wrong and then plan for it in advance – using rocket sleds, chicken cannons, bear testers and any means necessary.

Uncovering the surprisingly profound science behind the small print on the label, How to Keep a Plane in the Sky is as wildly entertaining as it is illuminating. 

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‘Things fall apart… but Alex Davies tells the story of the people who pick up the pieces, subject them to rigorous testing, and rebuild the world.’ Adam Rogers, author of Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern

‘Engaging, witty, and deeply insightful’ Roma Agrawal, author of Nuts and Bolts

‘Wildly entertaining and surprisingly profound.’ Guru Madhavan, author of Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World