Title: Wings : a history of aviation from kites to the space age /
Authors: Crouch, Tom D.
Publisher: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum ; W.W. Norton,
Year: 2003
Subjects: Aeronautics History
Abstract: "These pioneers were scientists, soldiers, or daredevils, whose names will echo down through the centuries. There are those, from Sir George Cayley to Wilbur and Orville Wright, who launched the air age. Aviators like Louis Bleriot, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart bridged oceans to link nations and continents. Military pilots, from Manfred von Richthofen and Eddie Rickenbacker to Chuck Yeager and John Glenn, emerged as great national heroes. Brilliant scientists and engineers laid the foundation for revolutionary change: Prandtl, Rohrback, von Ohain, Whittle, Stack, Karman.
Contents: Foundation stories -- Taking to the air -- The world takes wing, 1904-1909 -- From experiment to industry, 1909-1914 -- Into the fight: the airplane at war, 1914-1918 -- Laying the foundation, 1919-1927 -- Big business, 1927-1935 -- The roar of the crowd, 1927-1939 -- Revolutions in the sky, 1926-1941 -- Setting the stage, 1929-1939 -- Battles in the sky, 1939-1945 -- Toward new horizons -- From aviation to aerospace, 1945-2003 -- Cold war, hot war -- A world in the air, 1945-2003.