A History of Sea-Air Aviation


Book Description

This is a unique view of the history of naval aviation, starting with early aviation, up to the late 1970s. Topics and subjects covered include: Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin; early aviation history; ornithopter; Clement Auer; Octave Chanute; Samuel P. Langley; Wilbur and Orville Wright; Glenn Curtiss; Transoceanic flight; the flight of NC-4; Charles Lindbergh; Dole Pineapple Derby; Hindenburg; Ford Tri-motor; Dornier Wal (Whale); Boeing 314; Pan American Airways; Balloons in the civil war; Gotha Biplane; Shenandoah crash; Akron and Macon crashes; U.S. and British Aircraft carriers; and Japanese aircraft carriers. Almost five years after he and his brother made their historic flights at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Wilbur Wright addressed a group of French aviation enthusiasts in Paris. He told his audience that he sometimes thought that "the desire to fly after the fashion of birds is an ideal handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless land in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air." Although he did not elaborate upon this idea in the rest of his speech, Wilbur Wright clearly wanted to emphasize two aspects of the age-old desire to fly. On the one hand, he contrasted early man's laborious and grueling manner of travel with the seemingly effortless flight of birds. On the other hand, the elder Wright brother placed equal emphasis on the mobility inherent in the flight of birds and, again, the implied contrast with the lack of geographical freedom which limited humans. How easily the winged creatures could cross vast expanses of land or water; how difficult for man to do the same. But by 1908, when Wilbur Wright delivered this speech, both he and his brother had experienced in their flying machine the freedom and mobility which had so fired the imaginations of our ancestors. Wilbur Wright also told the members of the Aero-Club de France that the idea of flight was "an idea that has always impassioned mankind." He did not need to give examples or evidence of the accuracy of this observation, for the proof was there in the members of his audience. They shared this passion for flight. Had he felt compelled to justify his assertion, Wilbur Wright could have pointed to the winged gods and deities of ancient Egypt, Assyria. Greece and Rome. Or he could have mentioned Western religious art with its winged angels and cherubs. Since he was a widely-read man. particularly in the literature relating to aviation. Wilbur Wright might even have produced examples of the desire to fly in Oriental art and religions. But the intense and taciturn Mr. Wright did none of these things. He assumed, instead, that his audience shared this ancient dream of flight.







Wings Over the Ocean


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Wings Over the Sea


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Naval Aviation News


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Wings Over the Seven Seas


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Wings Over America


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Transportation


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Jets at Sea


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As World War Two drew to a close, jet-powered aircraft were beginning to be introduced into service. To take advantage of this major development it was necessary for all the worlds air powers to rethink combat tactics and develop the means of handling these faster and generally larger aircraft in the air, on land and especially at sea. As this modern breed approached and finally broke the sound barrier, so did landing and takeoff speeds. The decade after the war saw rapid developments in the design of both naval aircraft and their seaborne bases the aircraft carrier. The first jet to land aboard a carrier was a modified de Havilland Vampire in 1945 on H.M.S. Ocean. Progress was rapid and the application of British inventions such as the angled flight-deck, steam catapult and mirror landing sight soon became adopted by the major navies of the world. Naval aircraft too became more sophisticated by the addition of high-lift flap systems and strengthened undercarriages to allow them to operate more safely at sea. The author describes the development of these improvements and then their operational advantages in the Korean War and Suez. He goes on to describe the US development of a potential nuclear carrier-borne bomber, the French Navy and its withdrawal from Vietnam in 1954 and then the use of naval aircraft for anti-submarine work.




Fabulous Flying Boats


Book Description

The history of the development and operations of flying boats in the early twentieth century is a vibrant one, full of colourful characters and experimentation. In 'Fabulous Flying Boats', Leslie Dawson captures this spirit of dynamism, reminding us of the most successful early pioneers of the seaplanes development, including a little known and oft-overlooked rival to the Wright Brothers, working to put their mutual successes in context. He goes on to describe, in clear and vivid detail, and using first hand-accounts, what it was like to be aboard one of the resulting huge passenger flying boats, as air crew and as a passenger. He also recounts the part played by the military boats inevitably seconded to such use. Incredibly well researched, the narrative embraces the globe-trotting air routes, from Europe to the Far East and to the Americas, and is well supported with evocative images from private and corporate collections, and the worlds aviation museums. The in-depth Appendix is virtually a book in itself. This book is sure to be a welcome addition to any Aviation enthusiasts library as it covers a particularly important period of Aviation development which formed a fertile environment for a host of young experimenters. The process of development continues to this day.