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Reindeer in service, and are close to his predicted failure time. He becomes increasingly anxious for its safety. He confides in
Teasdale, whose films he admires, and goes on to give her some advice on the safest place to go in the aircraft in the event of a crash. Despite his alarm, he remains persuasive and sincere, and impresses Corder and Teasdale. He also impresses the pilot, Samuelson, who knew the captain of the recently crashed Reindeer and had rejected with scorn the official inquiry's conclusion that the crash was the result of pilot error.
165:
sooner than officially estimated, but nobody takes him seriously. While flying to the site of an air crash that killed a Soviet ambassador, he discovers that his own plane is a
Reindeer which has already flown twice its permitted number of hours. He uses his technical knowledge to sabotage it as soon
307:
Teasdale visits Dr Scott at
Farnborough and relates her story of events to the Director of the RAE before offering Elspeth some feminine care and affection. Her affection for Honey is obvious, but she realises it is not to be – she cannot give him children or sustain him in his work. She is rapidly
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Before Dr Scott's arrival, despite Honey's concerns, the aircraft had recently been allowed into service. Honey's work is regarded as likely to falsify his far-fetched theory, rather than raising a significant safety issue. But the newly arrived Mr Scott links it with the recent crash of a
Reindeer
342:
and that the message tells them no more than they already know. With Corder's and
Samuelson's help and their C.A.T.O. contacts, Honey manages to have the message passed to Scott in the Canadian woods. Scott and his party work out that "the bear" could refer to a lake, Dancing Bear Water, 30 or 40
311:
By the time Honey returns, Scott has left for Canada to retrieve the tailplane roots. On reaching the crash site he discovers that the parts of the aircraft adjacent to where the tailplane separated have been removed by the Soviet party who came to recover the body of their
Ambassador. The Soviet
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Honey is recalled to
Farnborough after this sabotage, but he is delayed because C.A.T.O., the fictional operator of the damaged aircraft, refuses to carry him. While he is away, trouble arises on a second front. For the duration of his trip, he has left Elspeth in their shabby, neglected home in
230:
The narrator is Dr Scott, brought in to downsize his department, and the plot concerns his consideration of
Theodore Honey, who initially comes across as an unlikely hero. Mr Honey, a widower, does not live a conventional British life, and is bringing up his young daughter, Elspeth, alone. He is
397:
NX636 is shown as the RAF aircraft that returns
Theodore Honey to his employer at Farnborough after C.A.T.O. refuse to carry him either further, or to return him back, to the United Kingdom. Management at the Royal Aircraft Establishment consider the RAF obliged to accept the risk of carrying a
346:
Its front spar root reveals a classic fatigue fracture. The find vindicates Honey's theory and makes him a minor hero in aviation circles – to which he is indifferent. His early warning even allows for a timely redesign by the manufacturers, ensuring no loss of service of the
Reindeers over the
280:
Honey is sent to Canada to examine the debris of the crash, travelling on board a Reindeer aircraft on which he meets the two heroines of the novel, Corder and Teasdale. During the flight, Honey discovers from the cockpit crew that the flying hours of this aircraft are twice those of any other
249:
Honey is nervous and distrusting of the 'new broom', is unimpressive in appearance and is so intensely focused on his work that his relations with the outside world – never that good to begin with – suffer badly. Throughout the story, people judge him by that appearance, or by his varied and
176:, single parenthood and clairvoyance, before the scientist’s theory is finally vindicated. As the novel appears to presage some later real-life disasters and is based on just-emerging knowledge of metal fatigue, it is said to be one of few novels to reveal a new engineering truth.
491:
objected to the use of its name without permission, and associated with aircraft disasters. It threatened to sue Heinemann unless its name was removed. British publication was therefore delayed until 13 December while all references to BOAC were changed to CATO.
389:, its aerodynamics being unsuited to stable flight in the transonic envelope, causing problems such as structural flutter (felt by the pilot as buffeting) and control reversals – both of which would have been most likely to be present in a high-speed dive.
288:, Honey realises that he has failed to persuade anyone to declare the Reindeer unfit for service, and in desperation, he disables it by raising its undercarriage while it is standing on the tarmac, leaving the aircraft damaged and unable to move.
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Shirley Scott finds Elspeth unconscious, confirming her misgivings about the state of Honey's home life, and nurses her. Elspeth displays a touching mix of precocity and serious intelligence, but betrays Honey's hobbies of
36:
366:, whose future development would also have included jet power, and Shute notes this late in the novel. It is described as a low-wing monoplane with a nosewheel-type undercarriage and a single tail. In the movie,
425:
One observer has suggested that Shute may have been influenced in his description of the crash site by the 1946 crash at Hare Mountain (later Crash Hill), Newfoundland, of a Douglas C-54E which killed 39 people.
376:
afterburning turbojet. At the end of the novel this aircraft is under investigation by Dr Scott because three of them have been lost through transonic disintegration. This parallels the late development of the
261:, that it is possible for an aluminium alloy structure to fail long before the design lifetime predicted by the usual design standards. He is using a spare tailplane from a Reindeer aircraft in a
338:. Sceptical of the message's value, the Director refuses to send it to Scott, and a heated exchange follows. The Director points out that "the bear" could just as plausibly refer merely to the
347:
Atlantic and allowing the safety issue to be hushed-up. But Dr Scott goes on to take safety more seriously than had been previous practice. Corder and Honey finally marry one another.
312:
authorities suspect that the crash was part of a plot to assassinate the ambassador, and are wholly unhelpful when approached for information about the missing tailplane root.
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381:, whose later versions featured powerful engines providing more thrust than the airframe was designed to accommodate. They also suffered from
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in powered dives; two were lost to tail separation. The problem in the latter cases was that the aircraft had not been designed using the
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358:: Built by the Rutland Aircraft Company, in service with C.A.T.O, then regularly plying the Atlantic. Powered by eight engines with four
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An earlier BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial, dramatised by Brian Gear in three episodes, and broadcast weekly from 11 May 1986, starred
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The plot weaves together many themes, such as attitudes to safety, conflicts of interest between management and professionals,
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carrying the Soviet ambassador, which had total flying hours close to Honey's estimate, and which crashed in northeastern
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The tailplane itself remains lost in the wilderness, but must be found if there is any hope of proving the existence of
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304:. That notwithstanding, Elspeth's outlook is tempered with serious thought and childhood happiness in simple things.
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Marjorie Corder: Airline stewardess, in her mid-20s and tiring of the "glamorous life" with the fictional C.A.T.O.;
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followed by Corder, who bears Honey's letter of resignation to Scott and her own account of the events in Gander.
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in the United States and elsewhere. It presents Mr Honey as odd rather than being nervous at possible dismissal.
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and recently appointed head of the structural department at the RAE, brought in to 'downsize' the department;
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miles back along the flight path of the lost aircraft, and there, in due course, they find the tailplane.
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propellers (four nacelles carrying two engines each), the Reindeer can best be imagined to resemble the
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A scientist has been claiming that certain parts of a new aircraft called a Reindeer will develop
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Shute was a pioneer aircraft designer and co-founder of the aircraft construction company
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Monica Teasdale, an older, middle-echelon Hollywood actress, facing a lonely retirement;
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265:. Honey's theory predicts that the metal at the root of the tailplane will suffer from
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The initial US publication took place at the end of August 1948. But on publication
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Theodore Honey: A middle-aged widower and experienced scientist at the
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Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
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Farnham, with only the supervision of the unreliable cleaning woman.
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potentially unhinged person as part of their regular flying duties.
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Honey has predicted, by a (fictional) theory supposedly related to
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Captain Samuelson: veteran pilot of the Reindeer, highly respected;
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which, to Corder's shock, Elspeth has clearly experienced before.
254:, the study of possible esoteric interpretations of the Pyramids.
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788:
612:"Extract from the Dictionary of National Biography 1951–1960"
239:. He is currently investigating possible failure in the high
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as it lands, putting his credibility further in doubt.
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which had not yet, in the year 1949, become a part of
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Shirley Scott: Dr Scott's wife, a local schoolteacher.
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Shute: the Engineer Who Became Prince of Storytellers
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as Scott, and Margaret Robertson as Monica Teasdale.
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of a new airliner, the fictional "Rutland Reindeer".
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284:During a heated discussion during a stopover at
662:"Stephenville, NF Airliner Crashes, Oct 1946."
406:Part of the novel is set in Canada (and in the
597:Imagining Flight: Aviation and Popular Culture
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447:Therefore, go forth, companion: when you find
442:which Shute quotes at the start of the book:
19:For the song "No Highway" by Circa Zero, see
8:
504:of the novel was released in 1951, starring
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753:. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985.
452:No Highway more, no track, all being blind,
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793:
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250:unconventional outside interests, such as
218:Elspeth: Honey's twelve-year-old daughter;
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27:
977:Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer
457:The way to go shall glimmer in the mind.
587:
152:. It formed the basis of the 1951 film
636:Michalak, Richard; Van Dulken, Steve.
516:as Teasdale. The film was released as
269:and fail with a crystalline fracture.
677:"Stephenville, Newfoundland, Canada."
7:
202:Dr Dennis Scott: Younger, dynamic
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1073:British novels adapted into films
730:"Radio Plays 1945–1997: Serials."
714:"Classic Serial: 'No Highway'."
1:
873:What Happened to the Corbetts
594:A. Bowdoin Van Riper (2004).
719:. Retrieved: 16 August 2015.
550:as Teasdale was directed by
286:Gander International Airport
194:Royal Aircraft Establishment
1068:Heinemann (publisher) books
735:. Retrieved: 23 April 2015.
682:. Retrieved: 23 April 2015.
667:. Retrieved: 23 April 2015.
468:First published in 1948 by
231:engaged in research on the
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728:Deacon. Alison and Nigel.
336:UNDER THE FOOT OF THE BEAR
18:
1017:Trustee from the Toolroom
889:Landfall: A Channel Story
823:
638:"October 2006 Newsletter"
199:(RAE), working on safety;
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16:1948 novel by Nevil Shute
1009:The Rainbow and the Rose
704:Pendo 1985, pp. 277–279.
475:Reprinted in 2001 under
434:The title is taken from
408:Dominion of Newfoundland
334:, a message is written:
993:Beyond the Black Stump
751:Aviation in the Cinema
642:Nevil Shute Foundation
616:Nevil Shute Foundation
197:Farnborough, Hampshire
1053:Novels by Nevil Shute
519:No Highway in the Sky
155:No Highway in the Sky
1048:1948 British novels
569:as Theodore Honey,
463:Publication history
387:transonic area rule
383:transonic buffeting
148:is a 1948 novel by
30:
985:Requiem for a Wren
1035:
1034:
945:A Town Like Alice
929:The Chequer Board
733:suttonelms.org.uk
470:William Heinemann
332:automatic writing
259:quantum mechanics
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136:978-0-09953-009-1
98:Publication place
82:William Heinemann
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921:Vinland the Good
881:An Old Captivity
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749:Pendo, Stephen.
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562:in August 2010.
532:radio adaptation
514:Marlene Dietrich
364:Bristol Brabazon
356:Rutland Reindeer
89:Publication date
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645:. Retrieved
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619:. Retrieved
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610:Ryan, A. P.
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544:William Beck
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510:Jack Hawkins
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436:The Wanderer
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340:Soviet Union
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298:spiritualism
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263:fatigue test
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252:pyramidology
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241:aspect ratio
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181:Airspeed Ltd
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905:Most Secret
865:Ruined City
857:Lonely Road
817:Nevil Shute
556:BBC Radio 4
540:Paul Ritter
536:Mike Walker
496:Adaptations
150:Nevil Shute
50:Nevil Shute
29:No Highway
21:Circus Hero
1042:Categories
969:In the Wet
937:No Highway
897:Pied Piper
779:Faded Page
774:No Highway
647:7 December
577:References
567:John Clegg
552:Toby Swift
542:as Honey,
527:No Highway
508:as Honey,
328:planchette
187:Characters
145:No Highway
815:Books by
472:, London.
244:tailplane
237:airframes
174:diplomacy
125:268 pages
115:paperback
111:hardcover
78:Publisher
913:Pastoral
834:Pilotage
781:(Canada)
621:23 April
600:, p. 121
326:Using a
302:prophecy
171:Cold War
68:Suspense
56:Language
841:Marazan
233:fatigue
109:Print (
72:Mystery
59:English
1028:(2002)
1020:(1960)
1012:(1958)
1004:(1957)
996:(1956)
988:(1955)
980:(1954)
972:(1953)
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860:(1932)
852:(1928)
844:(1926)
836:(1923)
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412:Canada
374:Boreus
321:trance
275:Quebec
113:&
46:Author
582:Notes
538:with
430:Title
122:Pages
64:Genre
832:and
755:ISBN
649:2015
623:2015
554:for
530:, a
500:The
489:BOAC
477:ISBN
416:R100
330:and
300:and
226:Plot
131:ISBN
93:1948
777:at
717:BBC
558:'s
438:by
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183:.
158:.
808:e
801:t
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