Traces the history of flight from Icarus and his waxed wings to the space shuttle. Features pop-up illustrations and instructions for creating a paper model of a World War I fighter plane.

This book clearly demonstrates the problems encountered by the personalities involved and their strengths in developing the helicopter for Coast Guard use. It shows how Erickson and his friend and mentor, Coast Guard captain William Kossler, undaunted by their lack of support, fought with single-minded intensity to establish the helicopter as a vital rescue tool in the service. Kossler died while the project was still in its infancy.

Profiles Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, who made great strides in the invention of flight.

According to early Sanskrit texts the ancients had several types of airships called vimanas. Like aircraft of today, vimanas were used to fly through the air from city to city; to conduct aerial surveys of uncharted lands; and as delivery vehicles for awesome weapons. David Hatcher Childress, popular Lost Cities author and star of the History Channel’s long-running show Ancient Aliens, takes us on an astounding investigation into tales of ancient flying machines. In his new book, packed with photos and diagrams, he consults ancient texts and modern stories and presents astonishing evidence that aircraft, similar to the ones we use today, were used thousands of years ago in India, Sumeria, China and other countries. This means that these ancient civilizations had advanced metal technology, electricity and the engineering knowledge of flight many thousands of years before our own era of flight technology. Childress discusses ancient UFO sightings, the fascinating lore of ancient flight and the technology allegedly used in the flying machines of the ancients.

A photo essay tracing the history and development of aircraft from hot-air balloons to jetliners. Includes information on the principles of flight and the inner workings of various flying machines.

"Inspired by the ... short film [entitled Miss Todd]"--Jacket.