Spirit of America Bookstore

A History of Aviation

short history books on aviation history pioneers golden age of aviation Timeline of Aviation & Space famous American aircraft The Space Race aviation film & TV festival links

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
—  J.M. Barrie [1860-1937], in his 1904 stageplay "Peter Pan"

Books  on  Aviation  History
browse the History of Aviation catalog at Amazon

"Enola Gay: The Bombing of Hiroshima" [1977] by Gordon Thomas & Max Morgan Witts + atomic
http://www.amazon.com/Enola-Gordon-Thomas-Morgan-Witts/dp/1568525974/
http://www.amazon.com/Enola-Gay-Gordon-Thomas/dp/0812821505/ hc

"The Sky's The Limit: Women Pioneers In Aviation" [1979] by Wendy Boase topics/subjects include the women pilots of Britain's Air Transport Auxiliary, German gliding expert & test pilot Hanna Reitsch, Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson, Anne Lindberg, Jean Batten, and others Macmillan Publng Co. 9½x6¼ hardcover [1980] for $24.95 Osprey 9¼x6½ hardcover [1979] out of print/used

"Flight of The Enola Gay" [Buckeye Aviation Book 5/1989] by Paul W. Tibbets
http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Enola-Gay-Paul-Tibbets/dp/0942397118/

"Whatever Happened To Curtiss-Wright?: The Story of How A Very Successful Aircraft Company
Took Itself Out of The Business, 1945-1953" [12/1989] by Robert W. Fausel /0897450809/

"Return of The Enola Gay" [8/1998] by Paul W. Tibbets
http://www.amazon.com/Return-Enola-Gay-Paul-Tibbets/dp/0970366604/

"Before Amelia: Women Pilots in The Early Days of Aviation" [Brassey 8/2002] by Eileen F. Lebow
http://www.amazon.com/Before-Amelia-Women-Pilots-Aviation/dp/1574884824/

"Come Fly With Us!: A Global History of The Airline Hostess" [3/2003] by Johanna Omelia & Michael Waldock
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981922422/
http://www.amazon.com/Come-Fly-Us-History-Airline/dp/1933112069/
http://www.amazon.com/Come-Fly-Us-History-Airline/dp/1888054611/

"First Flight Visions, Celebrating The 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight" [Thrasher Loy Gallery 2003] by Tom D. Crouch & Chris Kidder
http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Visions-Celebrating-Anniversary-Powered/dp/0974157503/

"Little Book of Flight" [5/2006] by David Curnock
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Flight-David-Curnock/dp/190500933X/

"Mavericks of the Sky: The First Daring Pilots of The U.S. Air Mail" [2/2007] by Barry Rosenberg & Catherine Macaulay
http://www.amazon.com/Mavericks-Sky-First-Daring-Pilots-ebook/dp/B004PYDNJC/
http://www.amazon.com/Mavericks-Sky-First-Daring-Pilots/dp/0060529504/

"Legacy of Flight" photo book [] by Romanowski & Keiser

"Flight: The Complete History" [3/2007] by R.G. Grant
http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Complete-R-G-Grant/dp/0756619025/

	"Flying On Film: A Century of Aviation In The Movies, 1912 - 2012" [2012] by Mark Carlson Kindle Edition from BearManor Media [11/2012] for $9.95 BearManor Media 2nd edition 10x7 pb [8/2014] for $26.95 BearManor Media 10x7 pb [11/2012] for $24.95 BearManor Media 10x7 pb [11/2012] out of print/used
	"Milestones of Flight: From Hot-Air Balloons To SpaceShipOne" [grades 5-9; 2016] by Tim Grove Kindle Edition from Harry N. Abrams BFYR [6/2016] for $9.99 Harry N. Abrams BFYR 10¼x9 hardcover [6/2016] for $17.24
	"The Crash Detectives: Investigating The World's Most Mysterious Air Disasters" [2016] by Christine Negroni Kindle Edition from Penguin Books [9/2016] for $12.99 Penguin Books 8½x5½ pb [9/2016] for $11.38

Fiction  about  Aviation  &  Space  History

"Eagle & Crane: A Novel" [2018] by Suzanne Rindell Louis 'Eagle' Thorn and Harry 'Crane' Yamada grew up together, both became stunt pilots for Earl Shaw's Flying Circus, and both are attracted to Shaw's stepdaughter; then Pearl Harbor happens and Harry and his father are sent to an internment camp. After they escape the camp, one of Shaw's airplanes crashes and two burned bodies are found inside; the official conclusion is that the bodies are Harry and his father, but the local sheriff doesn't agree, especially since all involved keep lying to him . . . Kindle Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin [7/2018] for $13.99 G.P. Putnam's Sons 9¼x6½ hardcover [7/2018] for $22.00

Aviation  Pioneers

some folks who preceded Kittyhawk were

William Frost [1848-1935] of Wales, UK
Frost designed an early flying machine, the Frost Airship Glider, that was patented in 1894 and demonstrated in 1896.
"A Pembrokeshire Pioneer: Bill Frost of Saundersfoot, The First Man To Fly" [2007] by Roscoe Howells
Llygad Gwalch Cyf 7¼x5 pb [6/2007] for $8.71

Lyman Gilmore of Colfax, California (steam-powered aeroplane, 1902)
Samuel Langley
Richard Pearce of New Zealand (uncontrollable flight)
Preston Watson of Scotland (glider)

The Wright Brothers
Orville Wright [1871–1948] & Wilbur Wright [1867–1912]
books • website • PBS 'Innovators' episode • Centennial Dec 2003 • PBS bio

"Wright Brothers vs. Curtiss" Episode #2
of the "American Genius" TV mini-series [National Geographic Channel June 2015]

The struggle for performance and technology in the budding aviation industry. • Directed by Richard Lopez; written by Chelsea Coates & Nicholas Greene; narrated by Jeff Wilburn; starring Edgar Fox {as Orville Wright}, Brian Leider {as Wilbur Wright}, Daniel Van Thomas {as Glenn Curtiss}, Kurt Vogelsang {as Henry Ford}, Xander Crowell {as young Orville Wright}, Sam Jules {as young Wilbur Wright}, Nicholas Chase Applegate, Stacy Gedney, Marc Goodman, John S. Howell Sr., Donald Imm, Johnna Leary, Colin McHugh, Faron Salisbury, Mark Falvo episode credits at IMDb • series credits at IMDb watch full episode [7/2017 upload; 33:18] online at YouTube Fox widescreen color DVD [10/2015] 2 disks - SOLD OUT ! Amazon Instant Video [2015] HD episode purchase $1.99 each, HD season purchase $11.99 {saves $3.93}

The Golden Age of Aviation
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http://www.earlyaviators.com/ebanning.htm
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aviatrix Pancho Barnes []
"Pancho Barnes" [1988 TV movie] /tt0095816/ starring Nance Williamson
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Spirit of America Bookstore's
aviator & author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry [1900-44]

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is most famous for the children's book "Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)" [1943]
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Spirit of America Bookstore's
aviatrix Amelia Earhart [1897-1937] Page
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Stanley Hiller, Jr. [1924–2006]
a pioneering developer of the helicopter, and 'The Real Life Tom Swift'
article on Steve Carper's Madmen & Tinkerers website
entry at Wikipedia • entry at Notable Names Database
Hiller Aviation Museum [est. 1998], 601 Skyway Road in San Carlos, California
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Spirit of America Bookstore's
billionaire aviator & tycoon Howard Hughes [1905-76] Page
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aviator Charles A. Lindbergh [1902-74] & Anne Morrow Lindbergh
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"The Lives of Beryl Markham" by Errol Trzebinski (pb- Mar 1995) 0393312526
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aviator Wiley Hardeman Post [1898-1935]
http://www.wileypost.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Post
http://www.oklahomahof.com/member-archives/p/post-wiley-2004
Wiley Post's airplane Winnie Mae at Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum

pal of American humorist Will Rogers [1879-1935]

"Around The World In Eight Days: The Flight of The Winnie Mae" [1931] by Wiley Post & Harold Gatty, Introduction by Will Rogers, Foreword by Walter J. Boyne Crown Books pb [12/93] for $19.00 Rand, McNally & Co./Garden City 8¼x6 hardcover [1931] long out of print/used

"Air Hawks" [Columbia Pictures May 1935] Two airlines compete for a lucrative airmail contract; the owner of one hires a scientist who has invented a powerful ray that can stop the engines of an airplane in flight . . . • Produced by Harry Cohn; directed by Albert S. Rogell; screenplay by Griffin Jay & Grace Neville, based on Ben Pivar's short story "Air Fury"; starring Ralph Bellamy, Tala Birell, Wiley Post, Douglass Dumbrille, Robert Allen, Billie Seward, Victor Kilian, Robert Middlemass, Geneva Mitchell, Wyrley Birch, Edward Van Sloan, Yvonne Bertrand, Gino Corrado, Frank O'Connor, George Offerman Jr., Niles Welch, Billy West, Charles C. Wilson & stunt pilot Roscoe Turner • full credits at IMDb Sony Choice Collection b&w DVD [8/2012] out of prodn/used

	"Wiley Post, His Winnie Mae, and The World's First Pressure Suit" [1971] by Stanley R. Mohler & Bobby H. Johnson Military Bookshop, U.K. 11x8¼ pb [3/2011] for $19.95 Smithsonian Institution Press pb [1971] out of print/used
	"Will Rogers & Wiley Post In Alaska: The Crash Felt 'Round The World" [1984] by Dr. Reba Neighbors Collins Will Rogers Heritage Press 11x8½ hardcover [1984] out of print/used
	"Will Rogers & Wiley Post: Death At Barrow" [1993] by Bryan B. Sterling & Frances N. Sterling hardcover [6/93] out of print/40+ used
	"The First Solo Flight Around The World: The Story of Wiley Post and His Airplane, The Winnie Mae" [grades 4-6; 1993] by Richard L. Taylor Franklin Watts 8¾x7½ library hardcover [10/93] out of print/used
	"Wiley Post: From Oklahoma To Eternity" [1998] by Bob Burke, Foreword by Thomas P. Stafford Oklahoma Heritage Assn. 8x5½ pb [1/2006] for $14.95 Oklahoma Heritage Assn. 8¼x5½ hardcover [2/98] out of print/40+ used

"Forgotten Eagle: Wiley Post: America's Heroic Aviation Pioneer" [Carroll & Graf Publrs, 2001] ISBN 0-7867-0894-8
by Bryan & Frances Sterling

"Fearless Flight: The Amazing Adventures of Wiley Post" [3/2009]
by Eric Dabney & Janice Johnson, Gini Moore Campbell, et al. |
https://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Flight-Amazing-Adventures-Wiley/dp/1885596758/

"Sky Rivals: Two Men. Two Planes. An Epic Race Around The World" [2016] by Adam L. Penenberg Two great pilots – one-eyed Oklahoma farm boy Wiley Post, shy and awkward on the ground but a daredevil in the sky, and Jimmie Mattern, a handsome, charismatic Hollywood stunt pilot from Texas – publicly competed to be the first solo flier to circumnavigate the earth Kindle Edition from Wayzgoose Press [1/2016] for $4.99 PUB pb [2/2016] for $11.99

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Alberto Santos-Dumont [1873-1932]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont

"O Homem Pode Voar" [2006] 75-minute documentary /tt1675179/
recovers at least seventeen minutes of Santos-Dumont footage, which were thought nonexistent or lost forever

"Wings of Madness" [2006] /tt0973514/ episode of "Nova" TV series
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aviatrix Louise M. Thaden [1905-79]

untitled feature film has long been 'under development' about aviation pioneer Thaden and the all-female transcontinental
air race of 1929, based on her 1938 book “High, Wide, and Frightened” • not listed at IMDb
http://www.amazon.com/HIGH-WIDE-FRIGHTENED-Louise-Thaden/dp/155728766X/
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pilot-actor-stuntman Albert Peter 'Al' Wilson [1895-1932]
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932957/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Wilson_(pilot)

"The Eagle's Talons" movie serial [1923] /tt0014011/
"The Ghost City" movie serial [1923] /tt0014079/
"The Air Hawk" [1924] /tt0014652/
"The Cloud Rider" [1925] /tt0015690/
"The Fighting Ranger" movie serial [1925] /tt0015812/
"Flyin' Thru" [1925] /tt0015827/
"The Flying Mail" [1926] /tt0132966/
"Three Miles Up" [1927] /tt0018483/
"Sky High Saunders" short film [1927] /tt0018411/
"The Air Patrol" [1928] /tt0018635/
"The Cloud Dodger" [1928] - survives at Library of Congress /tt0018779/
"The Phantom Flyer" [1928] /tt0019269/
"Won in the Clouds" [1928] /tt0019596/
"The Sky Skidder" [1929] /tt0020417/
"Hell's Angels" [1930] /tt0020960/
"The Airmail Mystery" [1932] /tt0022616/

Timeline of Aviation & Space

1783 June 5: The Montgolfier Brothers publicly demonstrated their hot-air balloon in a ten-minute flight in Annonay, France. 1783 Sept 19: Jacques Etienne Montgolfier launched a hot-air balloon at Versailles in France with a duck, a sheep, and a rooster on board. 1783 Oct 15: Jacques Etienne Montgolfier became the first human to fly in a lighter-than-air craft, followed by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier; both flights were tethered on a 75-foot rope. 1783 Nov 21: The first manned free balloon flight as Jean-François Pilâtre and the Marquis d'Arlandes ascended to 3,000 feet and traveled 5½ miles (9 km) in a flight across Paris, France that lasted about 25 minutes. 1793 Jan 9: Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard flew a hot-air balloon between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Woodbury, New Jersey (a distance of around ten miles). 1797 Oct 22: French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, from a height of about 3,000 feet above Paris, France. 1834 June: Albert Mason displayed a working model of his 'aerial steamboat' in Cincinnati, Ohio. 1903 Kittyhawk 1904 Wright Bros. made significant improvement to their flying machine. 1905 Wright Bros. built the historically-official 'first practical heavier-than-air flying machine'. 1906 Brazilian ex-pat Alberto Santos-Dumont made the first FAI-certified flight in France (leading to chauvinistic claims that the Wright Brothers were not first). 1906 May 22: The Wright Brothers received the patent for their flying machine. 1907 Aug 1: Beginning of the U.S. Air Force, as the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronaut-ical division. 1908 Wright Bros. added a more powerful engine to their flying machine, allowing easier takeoffs and better maneuverability. 1908 Wilbur Wright flew exhibitions in Europe, shattering all previous records for distance, duration, and altitude 1909 July 25: French aviator Louis Bleriot became the first person to fly an airplane across the English Channel, traveling from Calais, France to Dover, England in 37 minutes. 1909 July 27: Official test of the U.S. Army's first airplane at Fort Myer, Virginia; Orville Wright flew a passenger and himself for one hour and twelve minutes. 1910 Oct 11: Theodore Roosevelt became the first former U.S. President to fly in an airplane during a visit to St. Louis, Missouri. 1910 Nov 14: Eugene B. Ely became the first aviator to take off from a ship; his Curtiss Pusher aeroplane rolled off a sloping platform built on the bow of the light cruiser USS Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia, lightly touched the surface of the water, then landed on a beach. 1911 Jan 18: Eugene B. Ely became the first aviator to land on a ship; his Curtiss Pusher aeroplane flew from Tanforan Airfield in San Bruno, California and landed on a platform built on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay. 1911 Aug 1: The Aero Club of America issued the first pilot's certificate for a woman to Harriet Quimby. 1912 May 30: Wilbur Wright died in Dayton, Ohio of typhoid fever at age 45. 1912 Aug 1: The first U.S. Marine Corps pilot Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham flew solo for the first time, in a Burgess/Curtis Hydroplane at Marblehead Harbor in Massachusetts. 1915 Orville sold Wright Co., became an almost-recluse in Dayton (at his home, called Hawthorn Hill). 1918 May 15: The U.S. Post Office began airmail service between Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York City. 1921 Dec 1: The U.S Navy C-7, the first non-rigid lighter-than-air craft to use helium, from Hampton Roads, Virginia to Washington, DC. 1922 Feb 21: Crash & explosion of Italy-built Roma semi-rigid hydrogen airship during U.S. Army testing at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia; 34 crew members died, eleven on board miraculously survived. 1927 May 19-20: Aviator Charles Lindbergh made the first successful solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling nonstop from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York to Paris, France in 33.5 hours. 1927 June 13: Aviator Charles Lindberg was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City. 1927 June 28: U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Lester James Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger completed the first transpacific flight from Oakland, California to Wheeler Field, Oahu, Hawaii; their Atlantic Fokker C-2 craft flew the 2,400 miles in 25 hours & 50 minutes. 1928 Oct 15: The German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed at Lakehurst, New Jersey to complete its first commercial flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 1929 Nov 29: First airplane flight over the South Pole, with U.S. Navy Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd, pilot Bernt Balchen & photographer Ashley McKinney aboard. 1930 May 15: Registered nurse Ellen Church flew as the first stewardess or flight attendant, aboard an Oakland-to-Chicago run by Boeing Air Transport (forerunner of United Airlines). 1930 Oct 9: Laura Ingalls [1893-1967] became the first woman to fly across the United States; her nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, NY ended in Glendale, California after 30½ hours. 1932: James Herman Banning was the first Afro-American to fly coast-to-coast, accompanied by mechanic Thomas Allen. The flight encompassed 42 hours aloft, but took 21 days because they needed to raise money for gasoline at each stop. 1932 May 20: Aviator Amelia Earhart began the first successful solo flight by a woman across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling nonstop from Newfoundland to Ireland. 1932 Aug 24: Aviator Amelia Earhart began a 19-hour cross-country flight (from Los Angeles, California to Newark, New Jersey) that made her the first woman to fly solo and non-stop from coast to coast. By August of 1933 there were no independent airlines in France; they had been absorbed under the all-embracing Air France. 1933 July 22: American aviator Wiley Post completed the first solo flight around the world in seven days and 18-3/4 hours. 1935 Jan 11: Aviator Amelia Earhart began an 18-hour flight from Honolulu, Hawai'i to Oakland, California that made her the first woman pilot to solo across the Pacific Ocean. 1935 Aug 15: American humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post died in a crash during takeoff from Point Barrowin Alaska Territory. 1935 Nov 22: The China Clipper, a four-engine Martin M-130 flying boat, took off from Alameda, California carrying over 110,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight. 1937 March 17: Aviator Amelia Earhart's first attempt at a flight around the world (westward from Oakland, California); the flight ended with a crash landing in Hawai'i. 1937 June 1: Aviator Amelia Earhart's second attempt at a flight around the world (eastward) began from Miami, Florida. 1937 July 2: Aviator Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra aircraft lost radio contact and disappeared in the South Pacific Ocean; her navigator Fred Noonan was also aboard. 1938 June 23: The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Authority was established. 1939 June 28: Pan American Airways began regular transatlantic air service with a flight from New York City to Marseilles, France. 1939 Aug 27: Test flight of the first turbojet-powered aircraft, Germany's Heinkel He-178. 1945 July 28: A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City; three crewman and eleven people in the building died. {Wikipedia} 1947 Oct 14: Air Force test pilot Charles E. 'Chuck' Yeager broke the sound barrier over Edwards A.F.B. [Muroc Dry Lake] in California, flying the Bell XS-1 rocket plane to a speed of Mach 1.06. 1948 Jan 27: Orville Wright died in Dayton, Ohio at age 76. 1953 May 18: Aviator Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier, flying an F-86 Sabre jet over Rogers Dry Lake in California. 1953 Nov 20: Test pilot A. Scott Crossfield was the first human to pass Mach 2, flying a Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket to 1,291 mph. 1957 Jan 18: Three U.S.A.F. B-52 bombers completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight by jet aircraft, from March A.F.B. in California and back in just over 45 hours. 1957 Oct 4: The successful launch by the Soviet Union of the Sputnik I satellite began the Space Race. 1958 May 12: The United States and Canada established the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). 1958 Oct 26: Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris, France in 9 hours and 41 minutes. 1961 July 19: Inauguration of regularly-scheduled in-flight movies by T.W.A, with a showing of "By Love Possessed" to first-class passengers. 1961 Nov 9: U.S.A.F. Major Robert M. White flew the North American X-15 rocket plane at Mach 6 (six times the speed of sound: 4,093 mph/6,590 kmph). 1962 July 25: American Airlines and the Bell System inaugurated Skyphone air-to-ground radio-telephone service by having a stewardess flying over New Jersey call an Associated Press writer in New York City. 1962 Nov 27: Official 'roll out' of the first Boeing 727 aircraft at Renton, Washington. 1964 April 17: Geraldine 'Jerrie' Mock became the first woman to complete a solo airplane trip around the world when she returned to Columbus, Ohio in her Cessna 180 after the 29½-day trip. 1968 Oct 11: Launch of the first manned Apollo mission, Apollo 7 which flew in Earth orbit until safely splash-landing near Bermuda on October 22nd; astronaiuts Wally Shirra, Donn Fulton Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham were on board. 1969 July 19: Apollo 11 went into orbit around the Moon, with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, and Michael Collins on board. 1971 Nov 24: Airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper escaped by parachute with a suitcase of cash over a forest in Washington State; he was never identified, the case is unsolved, he was never heard from again. 1972 Jan 5: President Nixon announced that he had ordered the development of the Space Shuttle. 1972 Oct 28: The Airbus A300 made its debut flight in Toulouse, France. 1977 Aug 20: The Voyager 2 space probe launched toward Jupiter [July 1979] & Saturn [Aug 1981] plus Uranus [Jan 1986] & Neptune [Aug 1989]; currently speeding away from the Sun, the spacecraft is expected to transmit data back to Earth thru the year 2020. 1977 Sept 5: NASA's Voyager 1 space probe launched to Jupiter [March 1979] & Saturn [Nov 1980]; currently speeding away from the Sun, the interstellar probe is still transmitting data as it crosses the 'heliopause' into deep space. 1979 March 5: NASA's Voyager 1 space probe flew past Jupiter, sending back photographs of the planet and its moons. 1980 July 9: NASA's Voyager 2 space probe flew past Jupiter, sending back photographs of the planet and its moons. 1980 Nov 8: Space scientists at J.P.L. in Pasadena announced that N.A.S.A. probe Voyager 1 had discovered a fifteenth moon orbiting the planet Saturn. 1980 Nov 20: NASA's Voyager 1 space probe flew past Saturn, sending back photographs of the planet and its rings & moons. 1981 Aug 25: NASA's Voyager 2 space probe flew past Saturn, sending back photographs of the planet and its moons. 1985 April 12: U.S. Senator Jake Garn [GOP-Utah} became the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space as shuttle Discovery lifted off from from Kennedy Space Center in Florida; mission STS-51-D lasted seven days. 1986 Jan 24: NASA's Voyager 2 space probe flew past Uranus, sending back photographs of the planet and its moons. 1987 July 3: British billionaire Richard Branson and pilot Per Lindstrand became the first travelers to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a hot-air balloon, even though they were forced to jump into the sea as their craft went down off the Scottish coast. 1989 Aug 25: NASA's Voyager 2 space probe flew past Neptune, sending back photographs of the planet and its moons. 1989 Aug 27: Launch of the first U.S. commercial satellite rocket from Cape Canaveral, a Delta booster carrying British communication satellite Marcopolo 1. 2010 Oct 1: U.S. airlines United and Continental closed their deal to merge, creating the world's biggest airline; the combined company will be called United Airlines, with Continental's colors & globe logo on the tail. 2019 March 13: After a Boeing 737 Max jet aircraft crashed in the Java Sea five months earlier and a second plane crashed in Ethiopia on Sunday, President Trump finally announced that the U.S. was grounding these jets; both crashes killed everybody on board. The Federal Aviation Administration had resisted calls to bar the popular Boeing planes from flying until an investigation was completed, saying that it had found 'no systemic performance issues' to justify grounding the jets, as other countries around the world have done. The FAA and Canada changed course after newly available satellite-tracking data suggested similarities in the crashes.

Famous American Aircraft

Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat [1938-46]
http://www.amazon.com/Pan-American-Clippers-Golden-Flying/dp/1550464760/
  Boeing 707 passenger jet
Boeing 727 passenger jet [rollout Nov 1962]
Boeing 737 passenger jet
  Boeing 747 passenger jet
Cessna/USAF A-37 Dragonfly VietNam War era fighter [1963-92]
AT-6 Texan trainer

Northrop Grumman/USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber [1989-today]
U.S. Army B-17 Flying Fortress bomber
U.S. Army B-24 Liberator bomber

U.S. Army B-25 'Billy Mitchell' bomber [1940-79] from North American Aviation
"How To Fly The B-25 Mitchell Bomber" U.S. Navy Training Film TF1-3360 [1944]
bare credits at IMDb • watch full movie [9/2016 upload; 21:28] online at YouTube

U.S. Army B-29 Superfortress bomber
"B-29 Flight Procedure and Combat Crew Functioning" USAAF Training Film TF1-3353 [F.M.P.U. 1944]
bare credits at IMDb • watch full movie [7/2015 upload; 36:31] online at YouTube

Northrop/USAF YB-35 flying wing prototype [1946-49]
Convair/USAF B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber [1949-59]
Lockheed/USAF B-45 Tornado jet bomber [1947-59] + book by John C. Frederiksen
Boeing/USAF B-47 Stratojet strategic jet bomber [1947-77]
Northrop/USAF YB-49 jet flying wing prototype [1947]
Boeing/USAF B-50 Superfortress strategic jet bomber [1947-65]
Boeing/USAF B-52 Stratofortress strategic jet bomber [1952-today]
Martin/USAF B-57 Canberra reconnaissance jet bomber [1953-today]
Convair/USAF B-58 Hustler strategic supersonic bomber [1956-70]
Douglas/USAF B-66 Destroyer light bomber [1954-73]

  Lockheed Aircraft C-5 Galaxy transport
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
  U.S. Air Force C-47 / DC-3 transport
  U.S. Air Force C-118 / DC-6 Liftmaster
  U.S. Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcar transport
  Fairchild/USAF C-123 Provider transport
  Douglas Aircraft C-124 Globemaster II transport
  Lockheed/USAF C-130 Hercules transport
  U.S. Air Force C-135 transport & KC-135 tanker
  Lockheed/USAF C-141 Starlifter transport

  Douglas Aircraft DC-3 transport
Douglas Aircraft DC-6 [1946-58]
  Douglas Aircraft DC-8 passenger plane
  Douglas Aircraft DC-9 passenger plane
McDonnell Douglas DC-10
  Cessna O-2 Skymaster propeller aircraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_O-2_Skymaster
  Martin 404 passenger plane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_4-0-4

U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter
U.S. Navy F-4U Corsair
U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon [1974-today - being phased out]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon
U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II [2006, deploying 2016]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
U.S. Air Force F-104 fighter
U.S. Air Force F-105 fighter
U.S. Air Force F-111 fighter
H-4 / HK-1 'Hercules' Flying Boat [1947] aka the 'Spruce Goose'
McDonnell Douglas MD-11
Lockheed/U.S. Army P-38 Lightning fighter [1939-54]
U.S. Army P-51 Mustang fighter
Consolidated Aircraft PBY Catalina flying boat [1935-57]
U.S. Air Force SR-71 [12/1964-1990] did Mach 3 (approx 2,280 MPH) at 85,000 feet
U.S. Air Force U-2 / OL-20 reconnaisance plane

The  Space  Race
New Mexico Museum of Space History [est. 1976] in Alamogordo, New Mexico
Museum of Space History's International Space Hall of Fame

As with so many other topics, this section grew quite large over time and so was cut to its own page in March 2017.

Outer Space Film Festival at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

	"The Flying Saucers Are Real" [1950] by USAF Major Donald E. Keyhoe "During my long investigation of these strange objects, I have seen many reports verified by Air Force Intelligence, detailed accounts by Air Force pilots, radar operators, and other trained observers proving [that] the UFOs are high-speed craft superior to anything built on Earth." Kindle Edition from Cosimo/Public Domain [3/2011] for FREE! {sic} Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [1950 edition] for $1.99 CreateSpace 9x6 pb [6/2011] for $8.99 Fawcett Books mass pb [5/1950] out of print/scarce Cosimo Classics 9x6 hardcover [9/2006] out of print/used
	"The Flying Saucer Conspiracy" [1955] by USAF Major Donald E. Keyhoe Holt 8x5¾ hardcover [1955] out of print/used Holt 8x5¾ hardcover [1955] out of print/used
	"The IMAX Space Collection" DVD box set [2001] Imax color DVD set [10/2001] 5 disks for $35.99 includes 37-min. "Hail Columbia!" [1982] narrated by James Whitmore; 37-min. "The Dream Is Alive" [1985] narrated by Walter Cronkite; 40-min. "Blue Planet" [1990]; 40‑min. "Destiny In Space" [1994] narrated by Leonard Nimoy; and 40-min. "Mission To Mir" [1997] narrated by August Schellenberg
	"The Spacesuit Film: A History, 1918-1969" [2012] by Gary Westfahl, Foreword by Michael Cassutt Kindle Edition from McFarland & Co. [3/2012] for $9.99 McFarland & Co. 10x7 pb [3/2012] for $50.00 {sic} McFarland & Co. 10x7 pb [3/2012] out of print/used
	"Spacesuit: A History Through Fact and Fiction" [2012] by Brett Gooden Kindle Edition from Tattered Flag [11/2013] for $14.99 Casemate Publrs 10x7 hardcover [12/2012] for $27.95 Casemate Publrs 10x7 hardcover [12/2012] out of print/used
	"Amazing Stories of The Space Age: True Tales of Nazis In Orbit, Soldiers On   The Moon, Orphaned Martian Robots, and Other Fascinating Accounts From The Annals of Spaceflight" [2017] by Rod Pyle Kindle Edition from Prometheus/Random House/Penguin [2/2017] for $11.99 Prometheus Books 9x6 pb [2/2017] for $13.66

"For All Mankind" on Apollo pgm [10/1988] by Harry Hunt III
http://www.amazon.com/All-Mankind-Harry-Hurt/dp/0871131706/

"Truth, Lies, and O-Rings / Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster" [1994]
Allan J. McDonald & James R. Hansen http://www.booksxyz.com/profile3805018.php
http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Lies-O-Rings-Challenger-Disaster/dp/0813041937/
http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Lies-O-Rings-Challenger-University/dp/B00E28USM6/

"Space Odyssey: First Forty Years of Space Exploration" [5/2002] by Serge Brunier, Translated by Stephen Lyle
http://www.amazon.com/Space-Odyssey-First-Forty-Exploration/dp/0521813565/
http://www.amazon.com/Space-Odyssey-Exploration-Brunier-Hardcover/dp/B010WF8TC8/

"After Sputnik: 50 Years of the Space Age" [3/2007] by Martin Collins
http://www.amazon.com/After-Sputnik-Years-Space-Age/dp/0060897813/

"Space Travelers" [July 2009] Carlo Burton aka Charles Evans /tt1479832/
A documentary on legendary aerospace pioneer & designer Burt Rutan
http://www.amazon.com/Space-Travelers-Rutan-George-Takei/dp/B00918ZV4C/

Principal  Players

'Father of Modern Rocketry' Dr. Robert H. Goddard [1882-1945] Page
listed on TIME Magazine 100 Most Important Persons of The Century [3/1999]

•1926 March 16: Dr. Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket near Auburn, Massachusetts.
•1926 April 3: Dr. Goddard launched his second flight of a liquid-fueled rocket.
•Summer 1930: Dr. Goddard and his team relocated to Roswell, New Mexico.
•November 1936: Dr. Goddard flew the world's first rocket (model L-7) with multiple chambers.
•May 1942: Dr. Goddard and his team moved to Navy facilities in Annapolis, Maryland.

Neil Armstrong [-2012]

Richard Branson

John Glenn [1921-2016]

rocket scientist Hermann Oberth [1894-1989] of Germany

Burt Rutan

Werner von Braun

Aviation  Film  Festival

This section, as with many others, grew large and was split to its own page in September 2019.

Aviation Film & TV Festival Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
top of page  •   short history  •   books about aviation movies  •   aviation film & TV festival  •   image gallery  •   links

L i n k s
Flight Path Learning Center & Museum at LAX = www.flightpath.US
NATL AVIATION HALL OF FAME >> hrh
http://www.nationalaviation.org/website/index.asp?webpageid={29B403C2-424A-40CE-9A74-0DB137828215}
http://www.earlyaviator.com/
http//www.firstflightcentennial.org/
http://www.flight100.org
http://www.MuseumOfFlight.org in Seattle WA
Fantasy of Flight Air Museum [est. 1985, moved 1992] in Polk, Florida
The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery
Historic Aviation website

here on the 'A History of Aviation' Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

top of page • short history • books on aviation history • pioneers • timeline •

famous American aircraft • The Space Race • film & TV festival • links

Outer Space Film Festival at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

Aviation Film & TV Festival Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

˜                                       ˜

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