To celebrate the centennial of powered flight, this lavishly illustrated history acknowledges Oklahoma's contributions to this marvelous adventure. Included are such familiar names as Lindbergh, Earhart, and Wiley Post, plus great Americana, from balloonist Professor Gibbs and his dog through "Wrong Way" Corrigan and unfamiliar heroes such as the first African American transcontinental aviators and the Mercury women astronauts, including trainee Jerrie Cobb.

The Wright brothers have long received the lion’s share of credit for inventing the airplane. But a California scientist succeeded in flying gliders twenty years before the Wright’s powered flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Quest for Flight reveals the amazing accomplishments of John J. Montgomery, a prolific inventor who piloted the glider he designed in 1883 in the first controlled flights of a heavier-than-air craft in the Western Hemisphere. Re-examining the history of American aviation, Craig S. Harwood and Gary B. Fogel present the story of human efforts to take to the skies. They show that history’s nearly exclusive focus on two brothers resulted from a lengthy public campaign the Wrights waged to profit from their aeroplane patent and create a monopoly in aviation. Countering the aspersions cast on Montgomery and his work, Harwood and Fogel build a solidly documented case for Montgomery’s pioneering role in aeronautical innovation. As a scientist researching the laws of flight, Montgomery invented basic methods of aircraft control and stability, refined his theories in aerodynamics over decades of research, and brought widespread attention to aviation by staging public demonstrations of his gliders. After his first flights near San Diego in the 1880s, his pursuit continued through a series of glider designs. These experiments culminated in 1905 with controlled flights in Northern California using tandem-wing Montgomery gliders launched from balloons. These flights reached the highest altitudes yet attained, demonstrated the effectiveness of Montgomery’s designs, and helped change society’s attitude toward what was considered “the impossible art” of aerial navigation. Inventors and aviators working west of the Mississippi at the turn of the twentieth century have not received the recognition they deserve. Harwood and Fogel place Montgomery’s story and his exploits in the broader context of western aviation and science, shedding new light on the reasons that California was the epicenter of the American aviation industry from the very beginning.

The story of a revered tribal elder whom Wiley Post taught to fly.

Prior to 1979, you probably hadn't heard of counterterrorism or Special Operations. Even so, special warriors have been around since Moses sent Joshua to spy out the land of Canaan. In 1986, Colonel Billy R. Wood served as the operations officer of the newly organized 45th Aviation Battalion (Special Operations). This unit was highly classified. The special operations training and missions carried out by the team were conducted in secret, and members couldn't even tell their wives and families where they were going. These soldiers were called the Lords of Darkness. Prior to its formation, much was written about the failed hostage rescue mission in Iran. The Pentagon leadership implied, "Whatever the costs, whatever we do, we can never have another Desert One." Secret exercises were conducted with modified aircraft and soon-to-be-skilled night flyers of Task Force 160, today known as "Night Stalkers." What you didn't read about was the "other" US Army Special Operations Aviation Battalion-an Army National Guard unit. Highly classified and therefore less known, it was a "mirror image" special aviation unit. You didn't realize they existed because you weren't supposed to know. These teachers, businessmen, lawyers, salesman, citizen soldiers, and traditional guardsmen were called the Lords of Darkness of the Oklahoma Army National Guard. The night belonged to them-and their hearts belonged to aviation.

"Forgotten Eagle" follows the daring exploits and eccentric life of the pilot aviation history has forgotten--the first man to fly a single engine plane solo around the world. 50 photos.

Ever since Mittie Humphreys agreed to join dashing barnstorming pilot Ames for a joyride in his airplane, her lifelong love of horses has been surpassed by one thing -- a longing for the skies. It seems she's not the only one -- with Charles Lindbergh making his victory tour in the Spirit of St. Louis, aviation fever is spreading across the country. Mittie knows flying is the perfect focus for the soaring ambition and taste for adventure within her, and whenever she can slip away from her duties on her family's prosperous Kentucky horse farm, she heads to the airfield. Considering their shared passion, it's no surprise that Ames begins to vie for Mittie's time. But when handsome British aviator Bobby York offers her flying lessons, he is equally surprised-and beguiled-by Mittie's grit and talent. Driven to succeed, Mittie will do whatever it takes to compete in the Women's National Air Derby alongside Amelia Earhart. But when Calista "Peach" Gilson, a charming Southern belle, becomes her rival both professionally and in love, Mittie must learn how to navigate her heart's romantic longings as well as the skies.

Early balloonists, called aeronauts, traveled across Oklahoma from fair to festival to exhibit their feats of derring-do. Some parachuted from their balloons while others would slide down to the ground on cables attached to their balloons from heights upward to 1,000 feet. Soon after the Wright brothers proved the possibility of powered, controllable flight, local Oklahoma inventors were building their creations and hoping to be the first to be called pilot in the state. Once oil was discovered in the state, aviation literally took off. The early-day oil barons quickly seized on the utility of aviation. They could be the first on the scene in western Oklahoma or the Texas panhandle to sign a mineral lease or have a broken-down drilling rig back in action in short order by flying in the parts needed. From these humble beginnings sprang the aerospace industry that would carry Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma into the 21st century.