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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly? Have you dreamt of having wings and taking off to soar, glide, and dip with the birds? You are not the only one. Many people have wanted to leave the ground behind and join the clouds and the stars. Two such people were brothers named Orville and Wilbur Wright. These men were alway looking for an idea to explore. Thinking as one, they would put their heads together and figure out how to create something new. They invented a printing press out of scrap. They designed bicycles when they were still a new fad. Finally, they turned their minds towards flight. Through lots of determination and endless experimentation, Orville and Wilbur created The Flyer. For a few glorious seconds, they left gravity behind and took to the skies at Kitty Hawk. It was a moment that changed their lives and the course of the world.

“This well-researched book evocatively conjures up the halcyon days of the swashbuckling amateurs who took to the skies in untested contraptions.” —Sussex Life magazine Shoreham airport, founded in 1910, is the oldest airport in the UK and the oldest purpose-built commercial airport in the world. Yet aviation began in Sussex far earlier, with balloonists making landfall at Kingsfold near Horsham in 1785. The Dawn of Aviation recounts, in vivid style, the way in which successive generations of men—and women—carved out within the ancient and delightful county of Sussex, a memorable place in the history of British aviation. From balloons of the last 18th century, which were later employed by the military in 1880, to kites that could life a man into the air, to unmanned gliders, to the powered, controlled flight made possible by internal combustion engines in 1908, when Alec Ogilvie flew a Wright Brothers biplane along the coast at Camber, this well-researched, engaging account will appeal to aviation enthusiasts and British history buffs alike. “An enjoyable and informative account of how flying originally came to the attractive corner of the UK.” —The Aviation Historian

The untold, almost unbelievable, story of the daring pilots who risked their lives in an unprecedented air race in 1919—and put American aviation on the map. Years before Charles Lindbergh’s flight from New York to Paris electrified the nation, a group of daredevil pilots, most of them veterans of the World War I, brought aviation to the masses by competing in the sensational transcontinental air race of 1919. The contest awakened Americans to the practical possibilities of flight, yet despite its significance, it has until now been all but forgotten. In The Great Air Race, journalist and amateur pilot John Lancaster finally reclaims this landmark event and the unheralded aviators who competed to be the fastest man in America. His thrilling chronicle opens with the race’s impresario, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, who believed the nation’s future was in the skies. Mitchell’s contest—critics called it a stunt—was a risky undertaking, given that the DH-4s and Fokkers the contestants flew were almost comically ill-suited for long-distance travel: engines caught fire in flight; crude flight instruments were of little help in clouds and fog; and the brakeless planes were prone to nosing over on landing. Yet the aviators possessed an almost inhuman disregard for their own safety, braving blizzards and mechanical failure as they landed in remote cornfields or at the edges of cliffs. Among the most talented were Belvin “The Flying Parson” Maynard, whose dog, Trixie, shared the rear cockpit with his mechanic, and John Donaldson, a war hero who twice escaped German imprisonment. Jockeying reporters made much of their rivalries, and the crowds along the race’s route exploded, with everyday Americans eager to catch their first glimpse of airplanes and the mythic “birdmen” who flew them. The race was a test of endurance that many pilots didn’t finish: some dropped out from sheer exhaustion, while others, betrayed by their engines or their instincts, perished. For all its tragedy, Lancaster argues, the race galvanized the nation to embrace the technology of flight. A thrilling tale of men and their machines, The Great Air Race offers a new origin point for commercial aviation in the United States, even as it greatly expands our pantheon of aviation heroes.

“[A] slice of largely-forgotten military history . . . a fascinating exploration of some magnificent men and their flying machines.” —The Sunday Post In the dark days of World War I, when flying machines, radio, and electronics were infant technologies, the first remotely controlled experimental aircraft took to the skies and unmanned radio controlled 40-foot high-speed Motor Torpedo Boats ploughed the seas in Britain. Developed by the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy these prototype weapons stemmed from an early form of television demonstrated before the war by Prof. A. M. Low. The remotecontrol systems for these aircraft and boats were invented at RFC Secret Experimental Works commanded by Prof. Low, which was part of the organization of “back-room boys” in the Munitions Inventions Department. These audacious projects led to the hundreds of remotely controlled Queen Bee aerial targets in the 1930s and hence to all the machines that we now call “drones.” Starting well before WWI and, for the lucky ones, extending well beyond it, the lives of Archibald Low and many of his contemporaries were extraordinary as were the times they lived through. They were around for the first epic aircraft flights and with the aid of the very technologies that had enabled the development of drones, they saw air travel transformed from the precarious to the routine. It is astonishing that the origins of the first drones are not common knowledge in Britain and that the achievement of these maverick inventors is not commemorated. “A focused and engaging look at one arena of behind-the-scenes scientific research and the larger-than-life personalities who populated it.” —Booklist

Engaging the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals is an edited volume that brings together a diverse set of academic and professional perspectives within the three themes of attracting, educating, and retaining the next generation of aviation professionals (NGAP). This compilation is the first academic work specifically targeting this critical issue. The book presents a rich variety of perspectives, academic philosophies, and real-world examples. Submissions include brief case studies, longer scholarly works from respected academics, and professional reflections from individuals who have made important contributions to their field. The book includes academic chapters that explore the topic from a more theoretical standpoint yet are accessible and understandable to a professional audience. These are complemented by both broad and specific practice examples that describe initiatives and applications occurring in the industry around the three themes. All submissions include descriptive insights, experiences, and first-hand accounts of accomplishments, intended to support the work of other professionals managing NGAP issues. This work will be valuable to anyone involved in attracting, educating, or retaining NGAP, including academics, operators, national and international regulators, and outreach coordinators, among many others.

Airplanes and motion pictures were born within a year of one another. In 100 years they have both risen from uncertain infancy through growing adolescence to robust maturity. While Hollywood's actors and directors learned the art of making movies, the aircraft industry and pilots learned how to conquer the sky. In peace and war, prosperity and depression, the airplanes and motion pictures have become a part of American culture. The relationship was symbiotic. While airplane movies helped sell box office tickets, the movies helped promote aviation. In Flying on Film movie fans and aviation buffs can find their common bond. From wooden biplanes to armadas of warplanes, from majestic China Clippers to huge 747s, from slow monoplanes to swift jets, the movies told the story of the airplane. William A. Wellman's 1927 masterpiece Wings was the first of the breed, the standard to be emulated. Flying on Film is the history behind the films. Veterans and aviators from past and present tell the real story of one of the most fascinating genres of motion pictures in Hollywood. About the Author: Mark Carlson is an aviation historian, writer, classic film buff and student of filmmaking. He has written articles for several national aviation magazines and organizations. As a docent and researcher at the San Diego Air & Space Museum and member of many aviation-related organizations, Carlson has gained an insight into the people who lived the world of airplanes and the movies. He and his wife live in San Diego.

This “outstanding contribution to transportation history” chronicles the evolution of American mobility from stagecoaches to buses and airplanes (Choice). Transportation is the unsung hero of American history. Stagecoaches, waterways, canals, railways, busses, and airplanes revolutionized much more than just the way people got around; they transformed the economic, political, and social aspects of everyday life. In Transportation and the American People, renowned historian H. Roger Grant tells the story of American transportation from its slow, uncomfortable, and often dangerous beginnings to the speed and comfort of travel today. Early advances like stagecoaches and canals allowed traders, businesses, and industries to expand across the nation, setting the stage for modern developments like transcontinental railways and busses that would forever reshape the continent. Grant provides a compelling and thoroughly researched narrative of the social history of travel, shining a light on the role transportation played in shaping the country as well as the people who helped build it.

This book provides a state-of-the-art overview of the changes and development of the civil international aircraft/aviation industry. It offers a fully up-to-date account of the international developments and structure in the aircraft and aviation industries from a number of perspectives, which include economic, geographical, political and technological points of view. The aircraft industry is characterized by very complex, high technology products produced in relatively small quantities. The high-technology requirements necessitate a high level of R&D. In no other industry is it more of inter-dependence and cross-fertilisation of advanced technology. Consequently, most of the world’s large aircraft companies and technology leaders have been located in Europe and North America. During the last few decades many developing countries have tried to build up an internationally competitive aircraft industry. The authors study a number of important issues including the political economy of the aircraft industry, globalization in this industry, innovation, newly industrializing economies and the aircraft industry. This book also explores regional and large aircraft, transformation of the aviation industry in Central and Eastern Europe, including engines, airlines, airports and airline safety. It will be of great value to students and to researchers seeking information on the aircraft industry and its development in different regions.

Each time we see grim pictures of aircraft wreckage on a rain-drenched crash site, or scenes of tired holiday travelers stranded in snow-covered airports, we are reminded of the harsh impact that weather can have on the flying public. This book examines issues that affect the provision of national aviation weather services and related research and technology development efforts. It also discusses fragmentation of responsibilities and resources, which leads to a less-than-optimal use of available weather information and examines alternatives for responding to this situation. In particular, it develops an approach whereby the federal government could provide stronger leadership to improve cooperation and coordination among aviation weather providers and users.