Book Review - The Speed of Air

The Speed of Air-The Story of Willard Custer and His Channel Wing Aircraft, by Joel C. Custer and Robert J. Englar, tells the story of mechanic/inventor Willard R. Custer. How, one who was neither an 'aerodynamicist' nor an aircraft designer, developed and successfully flew a new and very novel aircraft concept. That is, force an airflow over a stationary wing to create lift, and it can takeoff or land vertically. Once airborne, it can fly like any other plane. But, there was no commercial success, government scientists, evaluators, and commercial aircraft builders/operators declaring it too unconventional to succeed. What follows is the history of these obstacles.
The initial chapters tells about first aircraft he built, which looked like, and was named, bumblebee. How he lost out when the patent application was examined side by side the one from Sikrosky. And his prolonged struggles with different patent offices and judges.
The book chronicles a large number of demonstrations of a full-size aircraft, lifted by air pressure from a complete standstill, and achieve the slowest speed ever flown by a fixed-wing airplane. Of course, at least a few suspecting some sort of subterfuge.
The narration is thrilling, I used to have a peek at the next page, well before I could complete the current one. It is also factual, the book gives a chronological review of all that took place. Also with sympathy, and Custer comes out as one with unyielding perseverance. There is also hope for further research. Possible drawbacks or shortcomings of the present design are analyzed in this book. I would have enjoyed thoroughly, if a few diagrams or engineering drawings were there to illustrate this revolutionary idea.