Aerial Pioneers

Aerial Pioneers PDF Author: William Matthew Leary
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Air mail service
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description

Aerial Pioneers

Aerial Pioneers PDF Author: William Matthew Leary
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Air mail service
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description


AERIAL PIONEERS

AERIAL PIONEERS PDF Author: William Matthew Leary
Publisher: Smithsonian Books (DC)
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation

The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation PDF Author: John Lancaster
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1631496387
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
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.

Pioneers of Aerial Combat

Pioneers of Aerial Combat PDF Author: Michael Foley
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 147382852X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
When the Wright Brothers made their first flight in the early years of the twentieth century it sparked the imagination of those who wanted to fly, both in their country and around the world. In Britain, however, the spark wasn't strong enough to light a fire and it was in other parts of Europe, notably France, where flight began to develop seriously.Early pioneers of flight faced a high level of danger and many died in pursuit of fulfilling their dream. Although aircraft design had made incredible progress by the time of the outbreak of war, accidents still occurred on a regular basis. For some time, as many pilots died in accidents as they did in combat. This publication consolidates a range of stories, insights, and facts that, when combined, offer a vivid impression of events as they unfolded. The chaos stirred up during the First World War and the scramble to develop aircraft in response to the threat to homeland security is eloquently relayed, as are the battles that characterized this conflicted era. The reality of conflict gave aviation engineers and designers the opportunity to test their craft in the harshest of environments, pushing the benchmark ever higher in terms of what could be achieved. Sure to appeal to aviation enthusiasts and historians alike, this work offers the reader a full account of the developmental early days of flight.

Aviation in Northern California 1910-1939

Aviation in Northern California 1910-1939 PDF Author: H. Allen Herr
Publisher: Stansbury Publishing
ISBN: 1935807544
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 603

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Book Description
Historian Allen Herr’s lively aviation stories document fearless risk takers in Northern California with biographies of the pioneer aviators, descriptions of the barnstormers, commercial flyers, regional airplane builders, and local airfield development from 1910 to 1939. Extensive research and 94 photos, some published for the first time, complement two other titles in a book series of early Northern California aviation history written by the former pilot. Originally published in 2015 as Golden Wings over the Feather River (ISBN 978-1-935807-14-8), but with added information and more illustrations.This volume II of the series is about early aviation in Yuba, Sutter, and Butte Counties.

Flying the Beam

Flying the Beam PDF Author: Henry R. Lehrer
Publisher: Purdue University Press
ISBN: 1557536856
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
With air travel a regular part of daily life in North America, we tend to take the infrastructure that makes it possible for granted. However, the systems, regulations, and technologies of civil aviation are in fact the product of decades of experimentation and political negotiation, much of it connected to the development of the airmail as the first commercially sustainable use of airplanes. From the lighted airways of the 1920s through the radio navigation system in place by the time of World War II, this book explores the conceptualization and ultimate construction of the initial US airways systems.The daring exploits of the earliest airmail pilots are well documented, but the underlying story of just how brick-and-mortar construction, radio research and improvement, chart and map preparation, and other less glamorous aspects of aviation contributed to the system we have today has been understudied. Flying the Beam traces the development of aeronautical navigation of the US airmail airways from 1917 to 1941. Chronologically organized, the book draws on period documents, pilot memoirs, and firsthand investigation of surviving material remains in the landscape to trace the development of the system. The author shows how visual cross-country navigation, only possible in good weather, was developed into all-weather "blind flying." The daytime techniques of "following railroads and rivers" were supplemented by a series of lighted beacons (later replaced by radio towers) crisscrossing the country to allow nighttime transit of long-distance routes, such as the one between New York and San Francisco. Although today's airway system extends far beyond the continental US and is based on digital technologies, the way pilots navigate from place to place basically uses the same infrastructure and procedures that were pioneered almost a century earlier. While navigational electronics have changed greatly over the years, actually "flying the beam" has changed very little.

The Aerial Experiment Association

The Aerial Experiment Association PDF Author: Judith Tulloch
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781926908335
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Aviation Pioneers of Canada 7-Book Bundle

Aviation Pioneers of Canada 7-Book Bundle PDF Author: Peter Pigott
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 1459737229
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 1616

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Book Description
The Aviation Pioneers of Canada 7-Book Bundle presents the high-flying insight of Peter Pigott, in a special collection chronicling the aviators, aircraft, and drama of over a century of Canadian flight. From the Avro Arrow and the Silver Dart to the adventurers and visionaries who pushed Canadian airways to new heights, Pigott covers it all with his trademark breezy style and incredible historical photographs. Includes Brace for Impact: Air Crashes and Aviation Safety Air Canada: The History Flying Canucks: Famous Canadian Aviators Flying Canucks II On Canadian Wings: A Century of Flight Taming the Skies: A Celebration of Canadian Flight Wings Across Canada: An Illustrated History of Canadian Aviation

Pioneers of Amphibious Warfare, 1898-1945

Pioneers of Amphibious Warfare, 1898-1945 PDF Author: Leo J. Daugherty III
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786453524
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
The planning that allowed for the successful amphibious landings at the end of World War II actually began during the 1880s as the Marine Corps sought to define its role in the new Steel Navy. Officers braved skepticism, indifference and outright opposition to develop an amphibious warfare doctrine, with each service contributing. From the 1898 war with Spain through the disastrous 1915 Australian landing to the successful World War II assaults in the Pacific and northwest France, this chronological history explores the successes and failures pivotal to the concept of amphibious warfare through the lives and careers of fourteen officers instrumental to its development. Profiles include General George S. Patton, Jr.; Rear Admiral Walter C. Ansel, USN; Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune, USMC; Admiral William Sims, USN; and Colonel Robert W. Huntington, USMC.

Over Empires and Oceans

Over Empires and Oceans PDF Author: Robert Bluffield
Publisher: Tattered Flag
ISBN: 0954311566
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
This a story of pioneers, intrepid aviators, adventurers, tycoons and innovators. It is also a story of dedication and determination, for despite fixed-wing aircraft proving their value over the battlefields of the Western Front during the First World War, convincing governments and public alike that they had a role in peacetime proved far more challenging. The Americans, as inventors of heavier-than-air powered flight, had briefly courted with a passenger airline across Tampa Bay in 1914, yet it took a further nine years for mail to be flown coast-to-coast. In 1919 a British company made the first international scheduled flight between London and Paris, but the continuation of regular services was thwarted by a less-than-enthusiastic government that allowed its generously subsidised French competition, for a short time at least, to fly cross-Channel passenger schedules unimpeded. The British eventually realzed that fast links with their Empire were vital, followed the example of the French and Dutch who had forged air links with their cousins in North Africa and the Far East. Meanwhile, in South America, the Germans, forbidden under the Versailles Treaty from any major aircraft-building, were establishing cunning supremacy by forming airlines throughout South America and in China. While America awaited a transcontinental passenger service, Juan Trippe's Pan American Airways was crossing swords with Ralph O'Neill of New York, Rio & Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) for air supremacy between the US, Brazil, Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America that led to the formation of arguably the world's greatest airline. In Russia, Igor Sikorsky had built a vast passenger-carrying aircraft, the Il'ya Muromets, and politicians debated whether giant airships or fixed-wing aircraft should rule the skies _ an issue that was put firmly to bed when the mighty German airship Hindenburg exploded while mooring at Lakehurst in 1937. Robert BluffieldÍs highly researched and detailed account tells the dramatic stories of explorers such as Kingsford Smith, Lindbergh and Cobham, and flamboyant entrepreneurs, some well known, others forgotten, who risked fortunes and reputations to follow their dreams of reaching and ruling the skies over empires, continents and oceans. Against bewildering adversity, corruption, underhanded deals and dwindling resources, these tenacious individuals braved the elements using primitive, entirely unsuitable equipment to establish earth-shrinking aerial services that criss-crossed the great oceans and the globe's most inhospitable territories. These are the stories of those pioneers _ of A_ropostale, CNAC, Air Orient, Imperial Airways, KLM, Deutsche Luft Hansa, Pan Am, SCADTA, The Condor Syndicat, Qantas and others that had a far-reaching impact on the way the modern world would travel.