Airman into Novelist

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 779, 25 June 1954, Page 12

Airman into Novelist

SLIDE RULE, by Nevil Shute; William Heinemann, English price 15/-,

(Reviewed by

B.

C.

an aeronautical engineer, N. is the autobiography of S. Norway, who is better known to a larger section of the public as Nevil Shute, the novelist. It tells in a most readable manner of the author’s youth and his difficulties with a troublesome stammer; of the early days of the de Havilland Aircraft Company; jof some of the unique problems associated with designing and building airships, and of the struggle for existence of the infant Airspeed Com- ) Peny which was floated during the depression, ; Like so many successful men, Nevil Shute has a well-developed contempt for civil servants, and this is particularly evident in the chapters dealing with the airship. He was in cherge of a team of mathematicians working on the structural problems associated with the design of the huge framework of the airship R.100. This was being made by the Airship Guarantee Company, a subsidiary of Vickers Ltd., at the same time as the Air Ministry team at Cardington was designing and building the ill-fated R.101. Rivalry between the private and State enterprise concerns became extremely bitter, and even though the events all took place between 1925 and 1930 a lot of that bitterness has remained to creep into this record. This is the first time I have read an account of all\ the intrigue and political manoevring which so overshadowed engineering prudence as to lead inevitably to the final disaster. With the collapse of the airship industry, Nevil Shute returned to his first love, the aeroplane, and joined forces with Mr. Hessell Tiltman, a senior designer, in the formation of the Airspeed Company. It appears that the author’s main function in the company’s formative years was the provision of the finance necessary to keep it running. In these activities his keen sense of character, so evident in his novels, came to his aid, and he quickly assessed the type of person and the situation most likely to produce some ‘ready capital.

The infant company suffered many reverses before it became firmly established, and it is interesting to read of some of the surprising factors which led to eventual success, To anyone who worked in the aircraft industry in Britain during the inter-war years, the book has the increased fascination of the familiar. Readers of Nevil Shute’s novels will find here another most readable story and much background material about a famous author; they may also recognise the originals of some of their favourite characters. It will not be altogether surprising if some of the criticisms and opinions so outspokenly expressed produce fairly violent reactions in Britain.