Flight: A History of Aviation in Photographs

by T.A. Heppenheimer

An extraordinary visual history. Fortunately the Wright brothers' first flight was captured forever by photography. A spectacular visual record accompanies every step of aviation's astonishing advances, and memorable images record travel events, such as the Hindenburg disaster. Flight is a comprehensive history of air travel as told through four hundred dramatic photographs. The book covers aviation history from the first attempts at flight to the latest aircraft. Flight includes the early pioneers of gliders and even a steampowered model plane that predated the Wrights' success at piloting a sustained powered flight. The book covers the major eras of A short essay introduces each section and detailed captions explain the significance and context of each photograph. Flight also includes blueprints for a glimpse into the engineering marvels of seven aircraft ranging from a Spitfire fighter to the supersonic Concorde airliner. Flight will appeal to aviation enthusiasts of all ages.

Genres: History, Reference, Aviation, Historical

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

Thomas A. Heppenheimer (January 1, 1947 – September 9, 2015) holds a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has held research fellowships in planetary science at California Institute of Technology and at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany.

He has been a freelance writer since 1978. He has written extensively on aerospace, business and government, and the history of technology. He is a frequent contributor to American Heritage and its affiliated publications, and to Air & Space. He has also written for the National Academy of Sciences, and contributed regularly to Mosaic of the National Science Foundation. He has written some 300 published articles for more than two dozen publications.

Reviews

[Jemima Pett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biopic of aviation from the first 'toy' gliders to stealth planes and solar-powered composites. Although each of the phases of development has a few pages of tiny font narrative, after my favourite area it was easier just to read the captions for the photos, which (at least in the earlier sections) reflected the narrative itself. Whilst great steps in technology throughout the ages have usually come in response to warfare, it is depressing for the aviation enthusiast to face up to the scenes of destruction and impacts of chemical and biological weapons delivered from the air. Mostly a testament to the might of the US technologists, with occasional reference to European and Asian developments. But then, the story may be complete enough, and if doing it in pictures, availability of pictures will always be a constraint.
Accessed via the library as part of my research on the development of aviation, it's left me depressed.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2003, 'Flight - 100 years of aviation in photographs' tells the story of aviation through 400 photographs, many of them classic images. Different eras of flight history are divided into six chapters each commencing with a brief overview. The use of classic images means that most people will have seen them before, but they are reproduced in generous proportions which brings them more to life. Of, there are exceptions - a small number of images are not only poor quality, or just seem a poor choice. I think that this is explained by the strong USA-bias of the book, as the worst images are not sourced in the USA, and also accounts for some of the serious errors in the text overview sections. Just accept it for what it is - an excuse to collect together some of the greatest photographic images in aviation history.

[Regina Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was missing pages, and it is sad indeed, because pictures and blueprints in this book are beyond amazing.

[FranklinTV · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of old plane photos with slightly overwrought descriptions.