Pavelec, Sterling Michael (S. Michael Pavelec)

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Pavelec, Sterling Michael (S. Michael Pavelec)

PERSONAL:

Education: Ohio State University, Ph.D., 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Evanston, IL. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, military historian, and educator. Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu, former assistant professor of history.

WRITINGS:

The Jet Race and the Second World War, Praeger Security International (Westport, CT), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Sterling Michael Pavelec is a writer, military historian, and former assistant professor of history at Hawaii Pacific University. In The Jet Race and the Second World War, Pavelec turns his attention to the skies of World War II as he explores the German and Allied efforts to develop turbojet aircraft and deploy them as weapons in the war. He presents a "thoroughly researched, thoroughly enjoyable, concise narrative on the efforts of the major powers to be the first to field this potentially decisive weapon," commented Anthony E. Wessel in Air Power History. Pavelec commences his historical analysis at the beginning of World War II, and follows the American, British, and German efforts through to the end of the war and the days immediately after.

Pavelec follows the manufacturing and development programs of several national governments, but pays particular attention to the German program, which was the most successful throughout the majority of the war. Pavelec notes that the American effort may have been hindered by a technical report from 1923 that indicated aircraft velocities of 400 miles per hour or more would have to be achieved before jet propulsion became efficient. Though a few specially designed racing planes were able to achieve such speeds, general attainment of aircraft speeds above 400 m.p.h. was not accomplished until the 1940s. When all of the involved governments were able to produce planes that could attain those speeds, the competition became fierce as each government was determined to develop and implement jet propulsion.

For the majority of the war, the Germans had the upper hand in their quest for jet-propelled aircraft. They were the first to produce a jet aircraft suitable for combat when a successful turbojet engine was installed in a waiting aircraft on August 27, 1939, Pavelec notes; thereafter, German aircraft engineers were leading the air race throughout the war. The British were second, creating a successful jet aircraft in 1941. Despite superiority in many areas, the Americans lagged behind in the race for combat-worthy jets. General Electric copied the British engine designs and Bell Aircraft built the aircraft that would become the first American jet plane on October 1, 1942, Pavelec reported. The author describes how the Germans lost their decided advantage as the war progressed, allowing the Americans and British to eventually gain the upper hand and take command of the European skies with their efficient and deadly jet aircraft.

"Pavelec's book is unmistakably a scholarly work with facts and figures in abundance," observed Wessel. "The text is, however, generally non-technical and should appeal to a wide audience." Wessel concluded that The Jet Race and the Second World War is "at once both authoritative and entertaining and will no doubt be a valuable reference work on the subject for many years to come."