Blue skies, orange wings
Subtitle: the global reach of Dutch aviation in war and peace, 1914-1945
By: Ryan K. Noppen
Publisher: Eerdmans
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 338
ISBN-13: 9780802848703
Subjects: Aeronautics; History
Description: "Through a wealth of photographs and color illustrations and an informed narrative, Blue Skies, Orange Wings documents the surprisingly strong role of Dutch aircraft, airmen, designers, and airlines in world aviation in the first half of the twentieth century. In this beautiful book Ryan Noppen offers the most thorough study of the early years of Dutch commercial and military aviation published in the English language. He examines the famed Fokker airliners, fighters, and combat aircraft, the development of Dutch national airline KLM, and the impact that Dutch aircraft had on the world in the pioneering days of flight, including a number of notable individuals -- Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Amelia Earhart, and more." --Publisher's website.

"A well-written, well-researched, and beautifully illustrated work detailing the astonishing aviation accomplishments of the Netherlands in the first half of the twentieth century. This small country contributed greatly to the development of flight, particularly in the early years of airline expansion when Fokker airliners were the aircraft of choice for most of the world's airlines and explorers, while KLM Royal Dutch Airlines expanded around the globe. This critical story has finally received the important scholarly attention it so richly deserves." --Chairman of the Aeronautics Department, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Foreword, by Jan Peter Balkenende; title: Foreword, by Klaas van der Tempel; title: Acknowledgments; title: Introduction; title: Abbreviations and foreign terms; title: The First World War; title: The postwar ascent; title: The Dutch immigrate to America; title: Fokker makes the world a little smaller; title: East Indiamen of the air; title: Trying to fly above the storm; title: Lightning strike in May; title: A rising sun in orange skies; title: Conclusion: Stubborn Dutchmen; title: Notes; title: Bibliography; title: Index of names; title: Index of aircraft.