Images of Aviation
Format
Format
User Rating
User Rating
Release Date
Release Date
Date Added
Date Added
Language
Language
Ebook
(0)
Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT
by William M. Armstrong
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Marine Air Group 25 was a pioneering combat air transport unit that entered overseas service during the Guadalcanal campaign in September 1942, helping to achieve the first American offensive victory of the war in the Pacific. It quickly gained fame for its rapid delivery of vital supplies and its lifesaving evacuation of casualties. During the fight for Guadalcanal, Marine Air Group 25 became the nucleus of the joint-service SOPAC (South Pacific) Combat Air Transport Command, or SCAT, partnering with troop carrier and medical units of the US Army Air Forces. SCAT would continue to play a crucial role in subsequent Allied operations throughout the Solomon Islands, including the battles for New Georgia and Bougainville. After SCAT was dissolved in February 1945, Marine Air Group 25 continued its mission in the Philippines and then Northern China until being deactivated in 1946. In 1950, the group was reactivated, seeing further service during the Korean War.
Ebook
(0)
North Dakota Air National Guard
by Maxwell Sabin
Part of the Images of Aviation series
The North Dakota Air National Guard's (NDANG) 119th Wing boasts an illustrious 60-year history of flying fighters. The NDANG can trace its roots back to the 392nd Fighter Squadron, which fell under the 367th Fighter Group. Many of its charter members began their careers in the Army Air Corps during World War II and brought their expertise and experience to their home station unit in Fargo, North Dakota. People like Alexander Macdonald had a hand in nearly every success from 1950 through the F-16 years as a pilot, commander, adjutant general, and then as a civilian advocate. Duane "Pappy" Larson is credited with being the namesake for the unit nickname "The Happy Hooligans." The 119th unit's history is a story about the people who achieved unprecedented accomplishments within the Air National Guard and, sometimes, even among the active duty US Air Force.
Ebook
(0)
Aviation in the Adirondacks
by Aurora Pfaff
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Since 1912, when a young man named George Gray landed an open-cockpit biplane on a farmer's field, aviation has played an important role in communities located throughout the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Through a range of historic images and postcards, Aurora Pfaff tells the story of pilots who linked communities by air, transported goods and people, and the small towns and airfields that they called home. From the novelty of planes landing on skis and daredevil flying circuses to forest fire patrols, exploration of the vast backcountry, and toy deliveries by Santa, airplanes have opened the Adirondack wilderness and made remote communities more easily accessible for tourists and adventurers. Yet this golden age for aviation would not last, for as car travel became easier and more affordable in the mid- to late-20th century, air travel in the Adirondacks would fade in importance and necessity. Aurora Pfaff is a writer and editor living and working in New York state's Adirondack Park. She has a master's degree in English from Harvard University, but as a child dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She finally took her first flying lesson in 2022. Images used in Aviation in the Adirondacks come from the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, Keene Valley Library, Piseco Lake Historical Society, Saranac Lake Free Library Adirondack Research Room, Town of Webb Historical Association, individuals, and other organizations.
Ebook
(2)
Airplane Manufacturing in Farmingdale
by Ken Neubeck
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Farmingdale, located in west-central Long Island on both sides of the Nassau-Suffolk County border, was an important center of airplane manufacturing from the First World War until almost the end of the Cold War. Aviation pioneers like Lawrence Sperry, Sherman Fairchild, Leroy Grumman, Alexander de Seversky, and Alexander Kartveli directed the manufacture of aircraft, aircraft engines, and key subassemblies as they evolved from the propeller, biplane era to the jet and space age. Farmingdale witnessed the creation of such cutting-edge aircraft as the Sperry Triplane Amphibian and Messenger; the Fairchild FC-2; the Grumman FF-1, JF-1 Duck, and G-22 Gulfhawk; the Seversky P-35; the Republic Aviation P-47, F-84, and F-105; and the Fairchild Republic space shuttle tails and A-10 Warthog. Airplane manufacturing in Farmingdale ended in 1987 with the demise of Fairchild Republic, but this book offers a comprehensive pictorial history of the outstanding achievements of so many talented men and women over seven decades.
Ebook
(1)
Naval Air Station Patuxent River
by Mark A. Chambers
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River) played a crucial role in forging America's naval air arm. This unique center proved to be vital for flight testing and evaluating naval aircraft and weapons systems destined for operational fleet service. NAS Pax River taught fleet pilots new tactics by conducting aircraft weapons tests, a tradition supplemented today by ground-based simulation. During and after World War II, it served as a primary center for flight testing and evaluating foreign aircraft. Some of the world's best test pilots and eventual astronauts came to NAS Pax River to hone their flight skills and to participate in the testing of naval aviation's premier aircraft. It is also home to the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) and the US Naval Test Pilot School, and it is the headquarters of the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
Ebook
(1)
Denver Airports
From Stapleton to DIA
by Jeffrey C. Price
Part of the Images of Aviation series
On the cusp of the Great Depression, Denver mayor Benjamin Stapleton pushed for the development of the first city-operated airport. Denver Municipal Airport opened in 1929 with three hub airlines. While Stapleton would be honored to later have the airport named after him, by the mid-1980s, the name Stapleton had become synonymous with congestion, flight delays, and frequent closures when the snow moved in. To solve the problem, Denver mayor Federico Peña envisioned a massive new airport, but when Denver International Airport (DIA) opened in 1995, its three hub airlines had whittled away to just one, and critics warned of dire consequences. Yet the airport persevered, and today, with its iconic tent roof, six runways, and 53 square miles of land, it stands amongst the most beautiful and busiest airports in the world. This is the story of three airports and how they brought the city from cow town to boomtown.
Ebook
(2)
Wright Field
by Kenneth M. Keisel
Part of the Images of Aviation series
From its founding in 1927 until the establishment of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1948, Wright Field played a vital role keeping the Army Air Force positioned as the world's leader in aircraft design and development. The Second World War catapulted it into the forefront of America's war effort, as virtually every new aircraft produced for the Army Air Force was developed and tested in Dayton. Wright Field's testing program also had the fascinating task of studying captured enemy aircraft, including some powered by jet engines, which engineers at the installation were also developing. Images of Aviation: Wright Field features scores of amazing photographs that tell the story of the airfield from its founding in 1927 through World War II, the Cold War, and beyond. Readers will also see the impact the base has played in the local community by providing thousands of jobs, as well as some of the greatest air shows ever held in the United States. Finally, a collection of crash photographs reveals the often tragic consequences that inevitably come with the testing of advanced experimental aircraft.
Ebook
(0)
South Plains Army Airfield
by Donald R. Abbe
Part of the Images of Aviation series
South Plains Army Airfield in Lubbock, Texas, was a major training base for US Army Air Force glider pilots during World War II. Approximately 80 percent of the roughly 6,000 pilots trained to fly the combat cargo glider received their advanced training and were awarded their "G" Wings at SPAAF, as it was known. The base was conceived, built, used, and then closed in a short five-year period during World War II. Today, little remains to remind one of the feverish and important military training program that once took place on the flat, featureless South Plains of Texas. During World War II, American military strategy and tactics included a significant airborne component. Major invasions, such as D-Day at Normandy, were preceded by huge aerial fleets carrying paratroopers and their equipment. These airborne invasion fleets sometimes exceeded well over 1,000 Allied gliders. The American airborne forces depended upon an ungainly looking aircraft, the CG-4A glider, to carry the vehicles, munitions, and reinforcements needed to survive. The pilots who flew them learned their trade at South Plains Army Airfield.
Ebook
(1)
Soaring and Gliding
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Area
by Jeffery P. Sandman
Part of the Images of Aviation series
To fly as the hawk and eagle has been mankind's dream for centuries. Modern sailplanes make soaring and gliding flight possible, and with them, humans can fly higher, faster, and farther than the greatest of birds, using only an invisible force of nature to stay aloft. The terms soaring and gliding are used interchangeably, and the sport is appealing to pilot and spectator alike. Sailplane enthusiasts have always been explorers, always looking for a more ideal site that will provide the intellectual challenges of soaring as well as the sheer beauty and relaxation the sport can offer. Michigan-based glider pilots and designers found their soaring paradise in the early 1930s when they ventured north to the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. The explorers began to promote the sport to national and international prominence, and many came to make up a veritable who's who of American aeronautics. Over a century after Octave Chanute discovered motorless flight on the Lake Michigan dunes, sailplanes, hang gliders, and paragliders still fill the skies.
Ebook
(3)
US Airways
by William Lehman
Part of the Images of Aviation series
The history of US Airways begins in 1939 as All American Aviation, flying single-engine Stinson Reliant aircraft to carry mail under a contract by the US Postal Service. By 1953, All American became Allegheny Airlines with the goal to become one of America's premier airlines in the East. Allegheny grew by acquiring other airlines, the first being Lake Central Airlines in 1968, followed by Mohawk Airlines in 1972. In 1979, Allegheny became US Air to reflect the airline's desire to grow to the West Coast; this was followed by merging with PSA in 1988, Piedmont in 1989, Trump Shuttle in 1992, and America West in 2005. US Airways is now the fifth-largest airline in the United States, operating more than 2,000 flights daily. This book tells the story of the many men and women who transformed a small regional airline to become one of America's great success stories.
Ebook
(0)
Glenn H. Curtiss
Aviation Pioneer
by Charles R. Mitchell
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Glenn Curtiss beat even the Wright brothers (who sued him bitterly) to get pilot's license No. 1 in America. He teamed with Alexander Graham Bell, helped develop the moving wing part known as the aileron, introduced tricycle landing gear, made the first airplane sales, and turned aeronautics into a multimillion dollar business. His innovations ranged from the Curtiss Pusher to the hydroaeroplane, the flying boat, and the Curtiss Jenny. Curtiss, his engines, and his airplanes dominated the world of early aviation on this side of the Atlantic. Glenn H. Curtiss: Aviation Pioneer charts Curtiss's breakneck course across two continents, North America and Europe, setting speed and distance records, experimenting with military applications, always striving for a safer, faster airplane. Fostering both water flyers and shipboard landing, he became the Father of Naval Aviation. But even the skies were not wide enough for the busy brain of Curtiss. Glenn H. Curtiss: Aviation Pioneer also tracks his dizzying ride from a village bicycle shop to record-smashing motorcycle races, futuristic travel trailers, and city building in the Florida land boom.
Ebook
(0)
Morristown Municipal Airport
by Henry M. Holden
Part of the Images of Aviation series
On July 8, 1929, a Morristown newspaper announced the opening of Morristown Airport on Bernardsville Road. The article stated the airport would be the home of the Country Aviation Club under the supervision of Clarence Chamberlin, the second man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and the first to take along a passenger. The Great Depression halted any serious development of the airport until 1936, when there was serious talk of the land becoming an East Coast dirigible base for the Hindenburg. However, the destruction of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey, a year later squashed those plans. After World War II, Morristown Airport began to become a reality. General aviation found Morristown convenient and out of the traffic patterns of Newark Airport. The airport grew and prospered, and by July 1966, Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU) was called the "VIP Stop." Today, as a general aviation reliever airport, MMU accepts private, corporate, air taxi, air ambulance, training, and military aircraft and ranks 11th in general aviation operations.
Ebook
(0)
Long Island Aircraft Manufacturers
by Joshua Stoff
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Significant aircraft manufacturing began on Long Island in the early 20th century and boomed during the war years. Long Islanders helped transform aviation from a dangerous sport to a viable means of transportation, while also producing a large portion of the nation's aerial arsenal in times of war. From the first frail biplanes to the warbirds of World War II and the sleek fighters of the jet age, aviation companies on Long Island helped make aviation the integral part of our world that it is today. During the 20th century, over 70 firms came to build aircraft on Long Island. Some of these firms lasted for decades and became famed builders of historic aircraft, such as Grumman, Republic, Curtiss, Fairchild, and Sikorsky.
Ebook
(1)
Pacific Southwest Airlines
by Alan Renga
Part of the Images of Aviation series
With its low fares and friendly service, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was one of the most successful regional airlines in American history. Its distinctive orange, red, and white planes, complete with a beaming smile were immediately recognizable to those living on the West Coast. The airline was also known for employing beautiful and sociable flight attendants. Kenny Friedkin, the founder of PSA, started in 1949 with one leased DC-3 and expanded his fleet to serve millions of passengers each year. Although PSA is no longer in operation, its successful business model of low-priced, efficient service was copied by other airlines and today is considered the norm. In addition, former PSA employees still gather annually to relive the camaraderie they experienced as being a part of one of the most unique airlines of all time.
Ebook
(2)
Cleveland's National Air Races
by Thomas G. Matowitz Jr.
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Enthusiasm for aviation exploded after Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927. The National Air Races, held in Cleveland between 1929 and 1949, collectively represent one of the most significant aviation events of the 20th century. Cleveland's newly constructed municipal airport, the world's largest airport facility at the time, along with its permanent 50,000-seat bleachers, won the city hosting rights to the event. The National Air Races captivated the public during the grim years of the Great Depression and provided a showcase for many aviation innovations including retractable landing gear, low-wing monoplanes, air-cooled engines, and careful streamlining. A deadly crash ended the National Air Races more than 50 years ago, but the races made an unforgettable impression. This book should reinforce the memories of those who saw the races firsthand and pique the interest of those who have always wished they had.
Ebook
(4)
Massachusetts Aviation
by Frederick R. Morin
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Shortly after the Wright brothers took to the air, aviation fever gripped Massachusetts. The biggest names in the industry, including Wilbur Wright, Glenn Curtiss, and Claude Graham-White, among others, flew in for the first major air shows, further exciting the people of the Bay State about the potential of manned flight in the realms of military tactics, the expansion of commerce, and even personal transportation. By the 1920s, Massachusetts had become home to the first Naval Air Reserve Base, in Quincy; one of the first Coast Guard Air Stations, in Gloucester; and the Boston Airfield, which would become the largest international airport in New England. Within a few decades, individuals like Edward Lawrence Logan, Frank Otis, Oscar Westover, and Laurence G. Hanscomb would permanently leave their names on the Massachusetts landscape in connection with the airports and airfields still used today.
Ebook
(0)
Yeager Airport and Charleston Aviation
by Nicholas Keller
Part of the Images of Aviation series
The intriguing history of aviation in Charleston, West Virginia, deserves to fly out of anonymity. Wertz Field opened in Institute in 1930, allowing for the introduction of the first commercial passenger service in 1933. In 1942, the construction of a rubber plant next to the field blocked flight approaches, resulting in its closure. Recognizing the urgent need for air service to the community, industrious West Virginians literally moved mountains to build Kanawha Airport on flat land created by leveling three mountains north of the state's capital, Charleston. Opening in November 1947, Kanawha Airport offered the community convenient air service and became home to the West Virginia Air National Guard. This book covers the history of aviation in the Charleston area, from the first airplane flight in 1912 to the current Yeager Airport, which links the region to the world economy.
Ebook
(3)
Southern California's World War II Aircraft
by Cory Peyton Graff
Part of the Images of Aviation series
The cities of Los Angeles and San Diego were boomtowns during World War II. California aviation companies designed many of the greatest combat aircraft of the era, and bustling armies of women and men helped quickly churn them out by the thousands. An astounding 41 percent of all US warplanes came from California drawing boards during the war. These planes saw combat service everywhere-from the deserts of North Africa to the frozen tundra of Alaska. Southern California planes were the first to bomb Japan. They turned the tide at the Battle of Midway and dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines on D-Day. They flew tons of fuel, ammunition, and supplies over the treacherous Himalayan Mountains, relentlessly hounded enemy submarines and ships, and helped smash Nazi Germany's war-making industry with "thousand plane raids."
Ebook
(1)
Flight Training at the United States Naval Academy
by Andre J. Swygert
Part of the Images of Aviation series
The United States Naval Academy was founded in 1845 in Annapolis, Maryland, after experience showed that the policy of training naval officers solely through shipboard experience was ineffective. The development of aircraft in the early 20th century was a technological change that impacted the academy. The efforts of naval aviation advocates, led by Capt. Washington I. Chambers, resulted in the Navy acquiring its first aircraft in 1911 and basing them near the US Naval Academy where sufficient land and material resources were available to support flight operations. Later, under Supt. Adm. Louis W. Nulton, aviation entered the curriculum as an element of fundamental naval education, taking a place among major subjects such as seamanship and gunnery. Classroom instruction and indoctrination flights provided all midshipmen with a familiarization in aviation as an important element in their development as naval officers before circumstances forced a shift of training to other facilities by 1962.
Ebook
(0)
Flying High
Pioneer Women in American Aviation
by Charles R. Mitchell
Part of the Images of Aviation series
In the beginning of the twentieth century, women were demanding more freedom. What could bring more freedom than a chance to fly? Women went up in those early wire-and-fabric contraptions to gain independence, to make money, or to make their names as pilots. They sought to prove that women pilots could do just as well as men�and some did far better. Flying High: Pioneer Women in American Aviation tells the story of Blanche Stuart Scott, who made $5,000 a week and broke forty-one bones; of Harriet Quimby, who flew the English Channel handily and then fell to her death in five feet of water near Boston Harbor; of Ruth Law and Katherine Stinson, who set American distance flying records�all before any of them were allowed to vote. Flying High: Pioneer Women in American Aviation also tells the tales of women behind the scenes�the financiers, engineers, and factory workers�from the earliest days of flying to victory in World War II. These stories of the first female flyers are told in rare, vintage photographs, many previously unpublished, from the archives of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum.
Ebook
(6)
The Berlin Airlift
The World's Largest Ever Air Supply Operation
by John Grehan
Part of the Images of Aviation series
The fate of the free world hung in the balance. Stalin's Soviet Union sought to drive the Western democracies from Germany to continue the communist advance across Europe. The first step in Stalin's scheme was to bring Berlin under Soviet control. Berlin was situated deep inside the Soviet-occupied region of the country, but the German capital had been divided into two halves, one of which was occupied by the Soviet Union, the other, in separate sectors, by Britain, France and the USA. Stalin decided to make the Allied hold on West Berlin untenable by shutting down all the overland routes used to keep the city supplied. The choice faced by the Allies was a stark one – let Berlin fall, or risk war with the Soviets by breaking the Soviet stranglehold. In a remarkably visionary move, the Allies decided that they could keep Berlin supplied by flying over the Soviet blockade, thus avoiding armed conflict with the USSR. On 26 June 1948, the Berlin Airlift began. Throughout the following thirteen months, more than 266,600 flights were undertaken by the men and aircraft from the US, France, Britain and across the Commonwealth, which delivered in excess of 2,223,000 tons of food, fuel and supplies in the greatest airlift in history. The air-bridge eventually became so effective that more supplies were delivered to Berlin than had previously been shipped overland and Stalin saw that his bid to seize control of the German capital could never succeed. At one minute after midnight on 12 May 1949, the Soviet blockade was lifted, and the Soviet advance into Western Europe was brought to a shuddering halt.
Ebook
(1)
Naval Air Station Norfolk
by Mark A. Chambers
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Throughout the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia, has played a significant role in the development of American naval aviation. The roles of fleet operational feasibility flight testing, flight testing of prototype aircraft, and tactical combat flight training at this naval air station have been crucial to this development. Technological advancements in naval airpower have significantly altered military doctrine and tactics, enabling the United States to gain strategic advantages over opposing forces in wars and military conflicts. Moreover, courage, innovative spirit, and ingenuity in conducting naval flight testing at Naval Air Station Norfolk have made and continue to make the advancement of American naval aviation possible. This remarkable military facility serves as a vital component of the world's largest naval base, Naval Station Norfolk.
Ebook
(1)
Akron Aviation
by James I. Pryor II
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Everyone loves a good adventure story. The history of Akron aviation provides all the real-life pathos of any adventure novel. It all began in 1875, when a young farmer named Jack C. Johnston launched himself and his balloon on one of the wildest flights ever recorded. In 1906, John Gammeter, an Akron inventor, built his own airplane and began making regular flights over the city. In Akron, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company saw the future of air commerce and would go on to write its own chapter in aviation history on a global scale. The story of Akron aviation is one of incredible triumphs and unspeakable tragedies. It is the story of men and women determined to conquer the air. Akron aviation matured along with the city, and the two intertwined to become a major influence in northern Ohio as well as the country.
Ebook
(0)
Virginia Aviation
by Roger Connor
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Virginia has one of the oldest and richest aeronautical legacies in the country. Beginning with the use of balloons in the Civil War, the commonwealth was at the forefront of aerospace innovation, particularly in military aviation. Langley Field and Quantico were key development centers in the maturation of aerial warfare for the Army Air Service, its successors, and the Marine Corps. Norfolk witnessed the birth of the American carrier force and was on the front line in the Battle of the Atlantic. The state is also home to a legacy of civil and commercial activity. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laboratory at Langley Field established numerous foundational principles of modern aerodynamics, supported the development of many of the most significant aircraft of the 20th century, and paved the way for travel beyond Earth. Commercial airfields, including Richmond, Roanoke, and Washington's Hoover and National, were at the cutting edge of modern air travel and played host to aviation's elite. These images from local, state, and national archives-nearly all previously unpublished-depict a rich technological heritage.
Ebook
(1)
Millville Army Air Field
America's First Defense Airport
by John J. Galluzzo
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Millville had always been known for its glassmaking, but with the outbreak of World War II, the community's identity was primed to change forever. A private civilian airfield gave way to the creation of America's first defense airport, the training ground for the U.S. Army's Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilots. Bright and brave young men from across the country converged on Millville in the early 1940s to learn to fly and fight for freedom. Some died in training; others flew into history as heroes. While in Millville, they lived the average lives of the country's military men, playing baseball, flirting with the girls at the local USO dances, and attending Sunday night dinners with local families, creating lifelong friendships in a time when a young man's life expectancy was in the hands of America's enemies.
Ebook
(3)
Washington Dulles International Airport
by Margaret C. Peck
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Washington Dulles International Airport is one of the three major airports that transports passengers into and out of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The beauty of the site is admired not only by millions who arrive and leave the area, but by local residents as well. After an extensive study of three separate locations in Virginia, Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower agreed to the Chantilly site and later chose to rename the world's first jet airport after his former secretary of state, John Foster Dulles. Renowned architect Eero Saarinen designed the magnificent building that serves as a gateway in and out of the United States. Today, the once peaceful farming area and small villages have turned into a fast-paced business world filled with thousands of new homes and residents.
Ebook
(2)
Barbers Point NAS
by Brad Sekigawa
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Rising from the ashes of the Pearl Harbor attack, Barbers Point Naval Air Station would become a major staging point for US Navy aircraft for the war in the Pacific, culminating with the surrender of the Empire of Japan. With the end of World War II in the Pacific and throughout the Cold War, Barbers Point would be home base for the US Navy's fleet of maritime patrol aircraft that hunted the growing threat of Soviet submarines prowling the vast Pacific. From 1942 until its closing in 1999, Barbers Point was the US Navy's only naval air station in the Pacific.
Ebook
(1)
Naval Air Station Wildwood
by Joseph E. Salvatore, M. D.
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Commissioned on April 1, 1943, Naval Air Station Wildwood trained thousands of U.S. Navy airmen during World War II. Located in southern New Jersey on a peninsula bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay, the air station was perfectly suited to provide them with the over-water practice they needed for fighting the Japanese fleet in the western Pacific theater. Some of the war's most lethal bombers-Helldivers and TBM-3E Avengers among them-were flown by members of naval fighter, dive-bombing, and torpedo-bombing squadrons based at the station from 1943 until 1945. At least 42 airmen lost their lives while training at the station, but their deaths brought about improvements in airplane design and tactics. Today only a handful of the station's 126 original buildings remain; the largest of these, Hangar No. 1, has been restored to its original appearance and houses Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum.
Ebook
(1)
Quad City International Airport
by David T. Coopman
Part of the Images of Aviation series
In 1922, three men were so captivated with flying they leased 30 acres of cow pasture south of Moline to serve as a landing field. Other early aviators and barnstormers began using Franing Field, and it soon became known as Moline Airport. The field hosted the Ford Reliability Tour four times, served as part of the original New York to Dallas airmail route, had passenger service as early as 1927, became one of Illinois's largest Works Progress Administration projects, weathered financial struggles and a battle with neighboring Davenport, Iowa, over which community would possess the area's commercial airport, and has enjoyed constant growth and updates for both airline and general aviation traffic. This collection of historical photographs and images will present the people, planes, events, and development of that former pastureland into today's modern Quad City International Airport, the third largest airport for passenger traffic in the state of Illinois.
Ebook
(3)
Early French Aviation, 1905–1930
by Graham M. Simons
Part of the Images of Aviation series
France has been called the cradle of aviation by many- a fact that cannot be disputed, although some have tried. By the end of the 19th century, she led the world in lighter-than-air flight. Any concern about heavier-than-air flight was dismissed as inevitable, and France would achieve it in due course. By the time Blériot bravely enquired 'Which way is England?' the country was ready to redress any perceived shortfall. Besides leading European aviation, France was the nation that named all the parts of an aeroplane with words many of which we still use everywhere today. France was also the first nation to stage air exhibitions. Unlike their counterparts in Britain, Germany and America, French designers were thoroughly entrepreneurial and tried a wide variety of adventurous styles from pusher to canard and monoplane to multiplane. In 1909 the first Air Show was held at the Grand Palais. The 'Exposition Internationale de locomotion aérienne' ushered in what was to become an enduring tradition. Every year, the aircraft exhibitions were a massive success. The interior design by André Granet, who since his youth had been fascinated by flying, was such a success that the Automobile-Club subsequently commissioned Granet to do the same for the car shows. It is not surprising that all this derring-do, all these technological achievements and all this innovation drew reporters and photographers like moths to a flame. The men, the machines, the places and the events all were recorded, reported, reproduced and then were filed away. Hundreds of images appeared in print, but thousands were printed up only as contact prints from large-format glass negatives and then disappeared into albums to be forgotten about. In the mid-1990s the author came across one such treasure-trove; a number of dust-covered albums containing around five hundred images of aircraft, airships and expositions- it is doubtful if most have appeared in print before, so this will probably be the first time the events of these French pioneers have ever been showcased.
Ebook
(2)
Willow Run
by Randy Hotton
Part of the Images of Aviation series
In May 1940, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the production of 50,000 military airplanes. He then drafted the president of General Motors, William Knudsen, to mobilize industry in the United States. The automotive companies were called upon to produce a massive fleet of bombers, as well as tanks, trucks, guns, and engines. By the Willow Run, a sleepy little creek near Ypsilanti, Michigan, Ford Motor Company built the world's most famous bomber factory, which was the ultimate manifestation of the automotive industry's role in building armaments during World War II. By the spring of 1944, Willow Run was producing a four-engine B-24 bomber each hour on an assembly line. With tremendous assistance from the Yankee Air Museum, this book presents a pictorial history of Willow Run during World War II.
Ebook
(2)
Bunker Hill and Grissom Air Force Base
by Tom Kelley
Part of the Images of Aviation series
As the US Navy recovered from the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the aircraft carrier earned a place alongside the battleship, and the Navy grew its air force. Pilots were needed as fast as American industry could build airplanes, and Indiana became the home of a naval air-training center. After fascism's defeat with the end of World War II, a potentially more deadly Cold War brought the need for a deterrent force capable of surviving a nuclear attack and then completely destroying the enemy. A vital part of that force moved into the old Hoosier Navy Base in 1954. For more than three decades, Bunker Hill and Grissom airmen stood on the forward wall of America's freedom. Images of Aviation: Bunker Hill and Grissom Air Force Base tells their story through an amazing collection of declassified US Air Force photographs.
Ebook
(5)
Boeing
by John Fredrickson
Part of the Images of Aviation series
In 1916, an airplane company was established in the previous Heath shipyard along the Duwamish River, situated a short distance south of Seattle's Elliott Bay. Work on the first two airplanes was already well underway as the articles of incorporation for Pacific Aero Products Company established three Seattle residents as the principals, William E. Boeing, James Foley, and Edgar Gott. The company's diverse crew included men with woodworking skills, women with expertise in sewing fabric, and an American-educated Chinese aeronautical engineer named Wong Tsu. A century later, Boeing is synonymous with commercial aviation, military products, and feats in space.
Ebook
(0)
Houston Aviation
by Various Authors
Part of the Images of Aviation series
As Houston steadily grew in the early 20th century, the commercial and civic elite focused on the community's industrial expansion and economic prosperity. Aviation played a significant role in that aspiration. With the earliest birdmen of the skies offering a suggestion of the economic potential of flight, Houston-area policymakers solicited and welcomed military aviation, first at Ellington Field and later on Galveston Island. As early as the 1920s, the burgeoning Houston energy industry realized the value and utility of aircraft as business tools. Aircraft were uniquely capable of quickly traversing the great distances that separated the oil fields from the centers of commerce and industry, and their use made Houston an epicenter for modern business aviation. Between World War I and World War II, the federal post office subsidized the development of commercial passenger service while the city fathers provided the necessary infrastructure through the funding and establishment of the Houston Municipal Airport. The triptych of business, commercial, and military aviation would come to define Houston's aviation lineage.
Ebook
(1)
Grand Forks Air Force Base
by Lt. Col. George A. Larson Usaf
Part of the Images of Aviation series
In February 1952, the Air Force announced its plans to build Grand Forks Air Force Base to support Strategic Air Command bombers and tankers as well as Air Defense Command fighter-interceptors. On February 8, 1957, Air Defense Command activated the 486th Fighter Group on Grand Forks Air Force Base. In December 1957, the Air Force activated the Grand Forks Air Defense System of the North American Air Defense Command. This sector became operational with the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system to cover the air space of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota and one Canadian province (Manitoba). The first Boeing B-52H Stratofortress arrived on April 29, 1962. In 1983, the B-52Hs were replaced with B-52Gs, and on December 4, 1986, B-52Gs departed the base, replaced by B-1B Lancers in 1987. The 321st Strategic Missile Wing became operational to administrate, man, and operate the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in December 1966. The Air Force made the formal announcement that it would remove 150 Minuteman III ICBMs with the inactivation of the 321st on July 2, 1998. After that, the Detachment 1, 9th Reconnaissance Wing arrived with the Global Hawk.
Ebook
(3)
Pan Am
by Lynn M. Homan
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Pan American World Airways could be considered a corporate Cinderella--a rags-to-riches-and-back-again phenomenon. From its founding in 1927 and its relatively obscure inauguration as a mail carrier on a 90-mile mail run from Florida's Key West to Cuba, Pan Am's route system grew to span the globe. The company that would eventually become famous for its blue-and-white-world logo grew into a conglomerate of hotels, airlines, business jets, real estate, a helicopter service, and even a guided missiles range division. But financial problems plagued Pan Am in its last two decades, and in 1991, Pan American World Airways ceased flying after 64 years of service. The story of Pan Am is as much the story of president Juan T. Trippe as it is an account of airplanes, pilots, flight attendants, and glamorous destinations. As the company moved throughout the world building airfields from jungles, crossing oceans, and forcing the development of new airplanes, it was Trippe's airline and his vision. A global pioneer, Pan Am was the first airline to use radio communications, to employ cabin attendants and serve meals aloft, and to complete an around-the-world flight. The company's achievements were legendary, but its failures, tragedies, and disasters were also part of a complex corporate life.
Ebook
(0)
Naval Air Station Pensacola
by Maureen Smith Keillor, AMEC (AW/SW)
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Although collected from multiple sources, the vast majority of images in this book are part of the collection at the Emil Buehler Library at the NNAM and show the amazing development of naval aviation from its infancy through the jet age. Maureen Smith Keillor earned a bachelor of arts in history with a minor in English in 2011. AMEC (AW/SW) Richard P. Keillor, MTS, enlisted in the US Navy in 2001 and is currently a lead instructor for his rate, AME, at the Naval Aviation Technical Training Command at NASP.
Ebook
(1)
Wings Over San Antonio
by Mel Brown
Part of the Images of Aviation series
In March 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois was ordered to Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas, with a used Wright Brothers aeroplane and a small contingent of enlisted men. His mission was to teach himself how to operate this primitive flying machine and begin demonstrating the practical uses it might have for the United States Army. This history is chronicled through in-depth captions and over 200 images as author Mel Brown tells the story of how San Antonio eventually became the cradle of military aviation. Mastery of the air would take time, equipment, and lives as the demanding flight path led from the early trials at Ft. Sam to the eventual establishment of four flying centers around the city. Working through trial and error, the aeronautic pioneers and first combat aviators convinced the military that the building of an American air arm was needed; thus the legend of the U.S. Air Force at San Antonio was born. Using many photographs never before published, the author tells the rich history of the air force bases in San Antonio, including Kelly, Brooks, and Randolph Fields. Also included are images of some of aviation's first heroes, such as Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and Clair Chennault.
Ebook
(6)
Newark Airport
by Henry M. Holden
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Newark Airport was the first major airport in the New York metropolitan area. It opened on October 1, 1928, occupying an area of filled-in marshland. In 1935, Amelia Earhart dedicated the Newark Airport Administration Building, which was North America's first commercial airline terminal. Newark was the busiest airport in the world until LaGuardia Airport, in New York, opened in 1939. During World War II, Newark was closed to passenger traffic and controlled by the United States Army Air Force for logistics operations. The Port Authority of New York took over the airport in 1948 and made major investments in airport infrastructure. It expanded, opened new runways and hangars, and improved the airport's terminal layout. The art deco administration building served as the main terminal until the opening of the North Terminal in 1953. The administration building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Ebook
(0)
Paine Field
by Steve K. Bertrand
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Paine Field was named in honor of hometown hero Topliff Olin Paine, an Army Air Corps pilot during World War I. Located 6 miles south of Everett and 20 miles north of Seattle, Paine Field- known as Snohomish County Airport-got its start as a WPA project in the 1930s. Situated on 1,000 acres, this airport was shaped by numerous events, such as World War II, the Korean War, and the arrival of Boeing, as well as social, political, and environmental issues that continue to influence its destiny. Throughout its 77-year history, Paine Field has continued to evolve into a thriving aviation community. At the heart of its success has been the key role of general aviation. A rags-to-riches story, Paine Field has grown from a small regional airport into an aeronautical complex that garners worldwide attention.
Ebook
(3)
Fairchild Aircraft
by Frank Woodring
Part of the Images of Aviation series
When Orville Wright made the first successful flight of an airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, no one could have envisioned the impact that the historic occasion would have on Hagerstown, Maryland, and the tri-state area of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. When Sherman M. Fairchild bought controlling interest in Hagerstown's Kreider-Reisner Aircraft in 1929, the stage was set for the newly formed Fairchild Aircraft to become a major contributor to the country's World War II efforts. In 1939, the company was awarded a contract to build 270 PT-19 trainers for the U.S. Army Air Corps. By the spring of 1944, Fairchild had manufactured more than 5,000 of the primary trainers, which became synonymous with the city of Hagerstown. When asked by the military to "put wings on a railroad boxcar," Fairchild responded with various cargo aircraft including the C-82, the C-119, and the C-123. Fairchild's contribution to the world of aviation unofficially ended in March 1984 with the delivery of the last of the A-10s contracted by the U.S. Air Force. Over the course of its history in Hagerstown, Fairchild employed more than 50,000 men and women in the manufacture of military and civilian aircraft.
Ebook
(1)
Aviation in San Diego
by Katrina Pescador
Part of the Images of Aviation series
For nearly a century, San Diego has been a hub of aviation development, air power, and flying adventure. The city's ideal weather and protected bay allowed San Diego to have an aviation history unrivaled by any local community. From the pioneering days of Glenn Curtiss and naval aviation at North Island to the present cutting-edge aerospace technology, Aviation in San Diego captures it all. With many never-before-published photographs, Aviation in San Diego documents the people and events that made San Diego's aviation heritage unique. From Ryan to Consolidated, Curtiss to Lindbergh, and everything in between, Aviation in San Diego is the preeminent photographic record of flight in "America's Finest City."
Ebook
(1)
McConnell Air Force Base
by Steve A. Larsen
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Beginning from its earliest days as an empty parcel of pasture that became a major hub airport for transcontinental air travel to its present use as the busiest refueling operation in the U.S. Air Force, the slice of land known as McConnell Air Force Base is inextricably connected to aviation to nearly the dawn of manned flight. Its military history began in 1941 with the arrival of the Air National Guard, and the base grew to a multifaceted operation that extends air power globally through intelligence and air refueling missions performed by its three partner units: the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, the 184th Intelligence Wing, and the 931st Air Refueling Group. This book offers a glimpse into the military history of McConnell Air Force Base through many rarely seen or previously unpublished images drawn primarily from the repository of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing Office of History and the Kansas Aviation Museum.
Ebook
(0)
LaGuardia Airport
by Joshua Stoff
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Constructed closer to Manhattan than the commercially unsuccessful Floyd Bennett Field, LaGuardia Airport was conceived in the mid-1930s as New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia realized the need for a great airport for one of the world's great cities. Originally known as New York Municipal Airport, the popular airport soon had its name changed to recognize LaGuardia's enormous contribution to the project. At the time of its opening in 1939, it was the largest and most advanced commercial airport in the world with terminals considered art deco masterpieces. Although a very large airport for the era in which it was built, by the late 1940s it was the world's busiest airport and clearly too small for the increasing amount of air traffic. Through the years its runways were lengthened and facilities were improved to handle larger and faster aircraft. Still one of America's busiest airports, LaGuardia has witnessed the steady progress of American commercial aviation, from flying boats to jetliners.
Ebook
(1)
Cleveland's Legacy of Flight
by Thomas Matowitz
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Since the dream of flight was finally realized by two Ohioans, Wilbur and Orville Wright, it is little wonder that Greater Clevelanders were quick to embrace it. From the August day in 1910 when Glenn Curtiss flew from Euclid Beach Park to Cedar Point, aviation has had a strong following in Cleveland. World War I saw the dawn of aircraft production in the city, and the 1920s brought the world-renowned Cleveland National Air Races. Cleveland industry supported aviation in many different ways, and multiple airports, many now long gone, promoted business aviation and flight training for decades. During World War II, Cleveland was a center of war production, and much of this was aviation related. Subsequently, renovations of the Cleveland Municipal Airport created Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. A scene of thriving airline operations to this day, Cleveland's business community was quick to appreciate the advantages of corporate aviation, which remains a daily feature of Cleveland's aviation life.
Ebook
(1)
Boeing Field
by Cory Graff
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Even before there were runways, the area south of the city of Seattle was Washington's aviation hub. Charles Hamilton, a daredevil dubbed "Crazy Man of the Air," became the first flyer in the state when he coaxed his Curtiss biplane into the sky over Meadows Racetrack in 1910. He promptly crashed. With the help of William Boeing and his growing aviation company, Boeing Field opened in 1928. In those early days, brave air travelers could hitch a ride along with bags of mail in cold, noisy biplanes. Bigger, better aircraft soon followed, but wartime intervened. Thousands of Flying Fortress bombers emerged from Boeing's Plant 2 at the edge of the airfield and winged off to war. In the years after, Boeing Field served a dazzling array of winged machines--from the smallest Piper Cub to Air Force One.
Ebook
(3)
Catalina by Air
by Jeannine L. Pedersen
Part of the Images of Aviation series
For years, reaching the paradise destination of Santa Catalina Island, located miles out in the Pacific Ocean, was possible primarily by steamship. But as early as 1912, the first amphibious airplane landed in Avalon Bay, and the first air-passenger service was introduced in 1919. Seaplane service thrived on Catalina, and aircraft engine roars became a distinctive memory for many residents, along with the thrill of crossing the channel by plane and landing on the water. The "Airport in the Sky" opened in 1946, with United Airlines operating DC-3s, followed by other airlines operating land-based planes. Today helicopters carry passengers across the San Pedro Channel in less than 15 minutes. This unique photographic history covers public air transportation to and from Southern California's iconic island, featuring memories and stories from residents, visitors, and airline employees.
Ebook
(1)
Springfield Aviation
by Job Conger
Part of the Images of Aviation series
Citizens of Springfield first witnessed human flight, a balloon ascent, on July 5, 1858. In 1861, the capital city's most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln, then residing in the White House, authorized the creation of the first U.S. "air force," a balloon to observe Confederate troops. Springfield's interface with aviation has been a steady stream of hot-and-cold-running enthusiasm since airplanes began flying from the state fair racetrack infield about 1910. Springfield Aviation chronicles that flow and concludes with photographs from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in early 2008. It presents photographs of memorable airplanes, airships, and prominent aviators from the author's extensive collection, augmented by contributions from Springfield Airport Authority, Lincoln Library's Sangamon Valley Collection, and many others.