Racing to War

Robert Hall was the rarest of aviation pioneers— an aeronautical engineer who was also the test pilot for his designs. Serving as Chief Engineer and lead test pilot at Grumman Aviation at the outbreak of the Second World War, he was able to expedite the development of navel aircraft to replace the Navy's aging air fleet, particularly fighters that would outperform the daunting Japanese Zero, one of the fastest fighters of the early years of the war. In all, Hall had a hand in the design and flight testing of the three aircraft that changed the tide of war in the Pacific for the Americans: the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat, and the Avenger torpedo bomber. Hall's extraordinary talent came from his experience designing, building, and flying some of the fastest racing planes of the 1930s, crossing paths with such aviation icons as Jimmy Doolittle, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and the flamboyant racer Florence Klingersmith. But it was his work at Grumman that posed the ultimate challenge, and this book is a gripping account of how he and Grumman engineers worked with the Navy to meet the challenge presented by the Japanese in the Pacific. Often risking his own life to ensure the airworthiness of Grumman's prototypes, his remarkable story is a behind-the-scenes look at heroes on the home front whose contributions to victory were no less significant than those of front-line soldiers, sailors, and airmen.