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About
''Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Aviation Engineer'' by Nevil Shute is a captivating memoir detailing the author's early life and prolific career as an aeronautical engineer before he turned to full-time writing. The book covers his childhood, his work on early British airships, and the launch of his own aircraft company.
The memoir is organized into three distinct phases of his life:
1. Early Life & First Encounters with Aviation:
Shute describes his early fascination with flight, taking on vacation jobs at the de Havilland aircraft factory that sparked his lifelong career in aviation.
2. The R100 Airship Project:
A significant portion of the book focuses on his time at Vickers, where he worked on the R100 airship project in the 1920s. Shute provides an insider's perspective on the Imperial Airship Scheme and details the intense rivalry, technical challenges, and the successful journey the R100 made to Canada before the project was ultimately canceled following the tragic R101 crash.
3. Founding Airspeed Ltd.:
Following the cancellation of the airship program, Shute details the immense challenges he faced as an entrepreneur raising venture capital during the Great Depression. He partnered to establish his own aircraft manufacturing company, Airspeed Ltd., in York and later Portsmouth. He offers an honest look at the bureaucracy and financial struggles within the aviation industry as the threat of World War II loomed.
The memoir concludes in 1938 when Shute decided to leave the engineering industry to dedicate himself entirely to his successful writing career.
The memoir is organized into three distinct phases of his life:
1. Early Life & First Encounters with Aviation:
Shute describes his early fascination with flight, taking on vacation jobs at the de Havilland aircraft factory that sparked his lifelong career in aviation.
2. The R100 Airship Project:
A significant portion of the book focuses on his time at Vickers, where he worked on the R100 airship project in the 1920s. Shute provides an insider's perspective on the Imperial Airship Scheme and details the intense rivalry, technical challenges, and the successful journey the R100 made to Canada before the project was ultimately canceled following the tragic R101 crash.
3. Founding Airspeed Ltd.:
Following the cancellation of the airship program, Shute details the immense challenges he faced as an entrepreneur raising venture capital during the Great Depression. He partnered to establish his own aircraft manufacturing company, Airspeed Ltd., in York and later Portsmouth. He offers an honest look at the bureaucracy and financial struggles within the aviation industry as the threat of World War II loomed.
The memoir concludes in 1938 when Shute decided to leave the engineering industry to dedicate himself entirely to his successful writing career.