Friend or foe, they sweep the skies just slightly over battlefields. However, they also evacuate victims from natural disasters, conduct humanitarian missions and transport victims in medical emergencies. Leoni, who was awarded the Black Hawk design patent, was there from the first in the intense competition to build a prototype helicopter to the US Army's exacting specifications for a variety of potential uses. He closely describes the appalling amount of work necessary to solve technical problems and meet specs, the truly strange experiences of the design team in flight tests, and the crash of one of the prototypes (with a full complement of personnel aboard) that could have wiped out the project but instead strengthened the design team's competitive position. Sure to appeal to enthusiasts, this gives a wide range of technical data, including line art used in the design process, and well-chosen photographs. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)