Uses contemporary accounts to trace the history of aviation and describe records, events, and technical developments. A true bonanza of aviation trivia and hard, factual information best describe this first-rate reference. In the pages of this book are flying machines of all types, from hot-air balloons and the harsh primitive fighters of World War I, through the most modern experimental combat and civil aircraft. While individual descriptions of particular planes are not heavily burdened with technical detail, enough of the latter comes through to give the reader an idea of the impact and place in aviation history of the machine in question. Equally fascinating are the print-media accounts chronicling both the tragic and the exhilarating moments in aviation and our quest for the sky in the early 19th through the 20th century...