Over the Transom: Burt Rutan's Race to Space

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The editors at The Internet Review of Books often receive unsolicited books. Sometimes they don't fit our modus operandi, but other times we think they deserve a mention.

Thus, our new feature: on random Sunday's we will be running "Over the Transom," brief reviews of books we haven't requested but like. This week we feature a book about an American aviation genius.

BURT RUTAN'S RACE TO SPACE

The Magician of the Mojave and His Flying Innovations

by Dan Linehan

160 pp. Zenith Press

When it comes to flying, most folks hop on a Boeing or Airbus and make the trip from point "A" to point "B." It's aviation buffs who smile and look interested when the name "Burt Rutan" is mentioned.

Rutan is a genius, and while this beautifully illustrated book has the word "space" in its title, it is also a brief history of the man's accomplishments, which range from contributing to work on the military F-4 Phantom to designing his Long-EZ, the Defiant, Starship, and other single-and-multi-passenger propeller-and-jet-powered aircraft. 

All that imagination, all that hard work, all that experimental use of composites and exotic airfoils are the foundation for "SpaceShipOne, which won the coveted $10 million Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight."

Informative text, beautiful photographs chronicling the life of a genius, a man sure to find his creations in outer space again.