num_pages: 216
description: The wonder of flight has long captured the human imagination. In this beguiling history  ranging from the first aircraft to astronauts and beyond  David Darling tells the stories of the true life adventurers whose wonder has translated into bizarre contraptions magnificent achievements and sometimes startling folly.Discover outrageous attempts to fly like a bird and fall from the edge of space. Meet Napoleonic ballooniste Sophie Blanchard and her daredevil husband; the real X-Men who flew the supersonic experimental X-planes for the US Air Force; stuntman Lincoln Beachey looping-the-loop in a pinstripe suit; and of course The Rocket Man himself: Yves Rossy who in 2006 was the first person to cross the English Channel using a jet-pack.Eccentric and reckless Darlings daring cast of dreamers is guaranteed to entertain and inspire.
language: English
title: Rocket Man: And Other Extraordinary Characters in the History of Flight
publisher: Oneworld Publications