Sonic wind : the story of John Paul Stapp and how a renegade doctor became the fastest man on Earth

**JUST AS HE FELT THE THUNDER OF THE FIGHTER JET ROAR UP BEHIND HIM,** John Paul Stapp heard the dry pop of the igniters. A 35-foot river of flame erupted behind the rocket sled, almost instantly propelling Stapp to 639 miles per hour. Flying the observation jet above, legendary test pilot Joe Kittinger was astonished to see Stapp’s Sonic Wind outracing him. Then, suddenly, the sled slammed to a stop—from the speed of a .45 caliber bullet to a standstill in just over one second. This 1954 experiment—which still stands as the most punishing deceleration voluntarily encountered—immediately transformed Stapp into a celebrity, putting him on the cover of Time magazine as “the Fastest Man on Earth.” Though the experiment nearly cost him his eyesight, it proved what Stapp had been arguing for years: if provided with adequately engineered vehicles and proper restraint systems, we can survive all manner of violent collisions. Drawing from troves of previously unpublished government documents and Stapp’s personal files, as well as dozens of new interviews, renowned biographer and historian Craig Ryan now recounts the unforgettable life of a renegade doctor who risked everything in the name of safety. Vividly recreating an American panorama of a time when all eyes were pointed skyward, Ryan traces Stapp’s story from his humble beginnings as the son of Texas missionaries to his death-defying rocket sled experiments in the California and New Mexico deserts, to his high-altitude balloon programs, which set records that were not eclipsed for fifty years. We witness Stapp—with his loyal team of swashbuckling scientists, engineers, and test pilots—rewrite the textbooks on what the human body can endure, along the way establishing the protocols for stratospheric survival and vetting the Mercury astronauts for the great “space race” that lay ahead. And when his treacherous experiments became too much for Washington bureaucrats, Stapp turned his attention to the slaughterhouses that were America’s highways, pioneering car safety long before Ralph Nader emerged on the scene. Before he was done, Stapp helped pave the way for seatbelts, airbags, and ejection seats, arguably saving more lives than anyone in history. However, as this thrilling work demonstrates, Stapp didn’t win every battle. His unconventional style of scientific research made him a pariah among some of his Air Force superiors, and his life of triumphs included lesser-known failures—both personal and professional. Sonic Wind is the fully realized portrait of a great American scientist, a man whose courage and influence made an indelible mark on the twentieth century and beyond. Now, in the tradition of The Right Stuff and Yeager, that legacy is reclaimed in a story that is as much a chronicle of our transition into the Jet Age as it is a biography of the man who got us there safely. Part I: The glorious rebellion against dissolution. 1. Where are my children to-night? 2. The most interesting place 3. Colonel Tank and Colonel Gas 4. Scum jobs 5. The citadel of aeromedical research Part II: The hot Siberia of the Air Force. 6. The battle of Muroc 7. Oscar Eightball and the Curbstone Clinic 8. Stapp's first rides 9. Anticipating strict compliance 10. G-force chimps 11. Brother, we are the goats 12. Evicted 13. Solo on Lovers Lane 14. Waiting for a tiger to spring 15. Subject had considerable apprehension Part III: Above the Armstrong Line. 16. The conference 17. Space scientists in Hollywood 18. Space scientists in space 19. The most significant apparatus 20. Kicked upstairs 21. The Survivors Club 22. Exit from Valley Forge 23. Nazi doctors and the never-ending road trip Part IV: The ghosts that never happened. 24. Washington 25. Slugging away at the standards 26. Who wants a resurrection, anyway? 27. Honor and violation 28. The Stapp years Appendix: How fast? CONTENTS PROLOGUE WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN TONIGHT? THE MOST INTERESTING PLACE COLONEL TANK AND COLONEL GAS SCUM JOBS THE CITADEL OF AEROMEDICAL RESEARCH THE BATTLE OF MUROC OSCAR EIGHTBALL AND THE CURBSTONE CLINIC STAPP’S FIRST RIDES ANTICIPATING STRICT COMPLIANCE G-FORE CHIMPS BROTHER, WE ARE THE GOATS EVICTED SOLO ON LOVERS LANE WAITING FOR A TIGER TO SPRING SUBJECT HAD CONSIDERABLE APPREHENSION THE CONFERENCE SPACE SCIENTISTS IN HOLLYWOOD SPACE SCIENTISTS IN SPACE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT APPARATUS KICKED UPSTAIRS THE SURVIVORS CLUB EXIT FROM VALLEY FORGE NAZI DOCTORS AND THE NEVER-ENDING ROAD TRIP WASHINGTON SLUGGING AWAY AT THE STANDARDS WHO WANTS A RESURRECTION, ANYWAY? HONOR AND VIOLATION THE STAPP YEARS APPENDIX: H0W FAST? NOTES INTERVIEWS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Documents the pivotal contributions of the late scientific visionary behind the development of seatbelts and ejection seats, outlining his dramatic experiments and battles for safety legislation that have been credited with saving millions of lives. The untold story of an eccentric, scientific visionary whose death-defying research has saved millions of lives.