Pioneer Aviators

Pioneer Aviators records the various stages of man's journey into the skies, taking the reader from the earliest years of experimentation, through the early age of ballooning, into heavier-than-air flight, our ventures into space and even all the way back around to modern human-powered vessels. The book introduces the reader to almost three hundred aviation pioneers and the aircraft they flew, and is illustrated throughout with photographs mostly from the author's own collection. Due to the historical importance of these aircraft - and as a tribute to those who flew them - many are now housed in museums across the world. Without the efforts and sacrifices of the pioneers, we would not have the aviation industry of today.

Profiles the lives and careers of twenty-six women who were pioneers in the field of aviation.

Memoirs Of A Pioneer Aviator is a record of the author's experiences in the Royal Air Force from 1924 to 1930. Here is a story of the humour and tragedy that touched the daily lives of the officers and enlisted men of the R.A.F. during that time. It is a valuable link to an era long past and a part of aviation that no longer exists outside of aviation museums. Here, also, is a story about early aircraft operations; about flying in zero visibility, sometimes in formation with other aircraft, before the advent of instrument flight regulations. It gives us a taste of the risks those aviators took and the judgement they needed to survive. This book is a must for aviation buffs. Within its pages, flight instructors will discover the origins of their trade. Terry Finney's story is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of aviation.

Most people recognize brothers and bicycle mechanics Wilbur and Orville Wright as the first in flight, and know that in 1903, on the blustery sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they made history with a flying machine of their own invention. But few other people know that the next aviator after the Wright brothers, a Brazilian, flew almost three years later and was nevertheless widely credited as being the first in flight. Or that a world-famous escapologist, a Hungarian, made the first flights in Australia but afterwards never flew again. Or that in Spain the first public display of a flying machine led to religious riots. The first pilots from each of a hundred countries have their stories told in this work. A brief biography and description of his or her attempts to fly are provided for each early aviator, except in a very few cases where facts are hard to find. For purposes of this book, a "flight" is defined as that made by a "heavier-than-air machine capable of taking off from ground level carrying a pilot, who controls to some degree the ascent, descent and path of the machine." To be called "successful," the flight must be "sustained past the point to which the machine's take-off momentum would normally carry it through the air."

Pioneer Aviators records the various stages of man's journey into the skies, taking the reader from the earliest years of experimentation, through the early age of ballooning, into heavier-than-air flight, our ventures into space and even all the way back around to modern human-powered vessels. The book introduces the reader to almost three hundred aviation pioneers and the aircraft they flew, and is illustrated throughout with photographs mostly from the author's own collection. Due to the historical importance of these aircraft - and as a tribute to those who flew them - many are now housed in museums across the world. Without the efforts and sacrifices of the pioneers, we would not have the aviation industry of today.

Bill Bruce, the son of an engineer, becomes an early aeronautics enthusiast and has many adventures.

Pioneer Aviators records the various stages of man's journey into the skies, taking the reader from the earliest years of experimentation, through the early age of ballooning, into heavier-than-air flight, our ventures into space and even all the way back around to modern human-powered vessels. The book introduces the reader to almost three hundred aviation pioneers and the aircraft they flew, and is illustrated throughout with photographs mostly from the author's own collection. Due to the historical importance of these aircraft - and as a tribute to those who flew them - many are now housed in museums across the world. Without the efforts and sacrifices of the pioneers, we would not have the aviation industry of today.