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Taking Flight: Inventing the Aerial Age, from Antiquity through the First World War
The invention of flight represents the culmination of centuries of thought and desire. Kites and rockets sparked our collective imagination. Then the balloon gave humanity its first experience aloft, though at the mercy of the winds. The steerable airship that followed had more practicality,
yet a number of insurmountable limitations. But the airplane truly launched the Aerial Age, and its subsequent impact--from the vantage of a century after the Wright Brother's historic flight on December 17, 1903--has been extraordinary.
Richard Hallion, a distinguished international authority on aviation, offers a bold new examination of aircraft history, stressing its global roots. The result is an interpretive history of uncommon sweep, complexity, and warmth. Taking care to place each technological advance in the context of its
own period as well as that of the evolving era of air travel, this ground-breaking work follows the pre-history of flight, the work of balloon and airship advocates, fruitless early attempts to invent the airplane, the Wright brothers and other pioneers, the impact of air power on the outcome of
World War I, and finally the transfer of prophecy into practice as flight came to play an ever-more important role in world affairs, both military and civil.
Making extensive use of extracts from the journals, diaries, and memoirs of the pioneers themselves, and interspersing them with a wide range or rare photographs and drawings, Taking Flight leads readers to the laboratories and airfields where aircraft were conceived and tested. Forcefully yet
gracefully written in rich detail and with thorough documentation, this book is certain to be the standard reference for years to come on how humanity came to take to the sky, and what the Aerial Age has meant to the world since da Vinci's first fantastical designs.
yet a number of insurmountable limitations. But the airplane truly launched the Aerial Age, and its subsequent impact--from the vantage of a century after the Wright Brother's historic flight on December 17, 1903--has been extraordinary.
Richard Hallion, a distinguished international authority on aviation, offers a bold new examination of aircraft history, stressing its global roots. The result is an interpretive history of uncommon sweep, complexity, and warmth. Taking care to place each technological advance in the context of its
own period as well as that of the evolving era of air travel, this ground-breaking work follows the pre-history of flight, the work of balloon and airship advocates, fruitless early attempts to invent the airplane, the Wright brothers and other pioneers, the impact of air power on the outcome of
World War I, and finally the transfer of prophecy into practice as flight came to play an ever-more important role in world affairs, both military and civil.
Making extensive use of extracts from the journals, diaries, and memoirs of the pioneers themselves, and interspersing them with a wide range or rare photographs and drawings, Taking Flight leads readers to the laboratories and airfields where aircraft were conceived and tested. Forcefully yet
gracefully written in rich detail and with thorough documentation, this book is certain to be the standard reference for years to come on how humanity came to take to the sky, and what the Aerial Age has meant to the world since da Vinci's first fantastical designs.
- GenresAviation
531 pages, Hardcover
First published May 8, 2003
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43 people want to read
About the author
Richard P. Hallion
73 books1 followerRichard P. Hallion is Senior Adviser for Air and Space Issues, Directorate for Security, Counterintelligence and Special Programs Oversight, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 24, 2025
While overall a highly useful book on the history of flight, particularly in the decades leading up to the Wright Brothers, and the period after their flight to the start of the First World War, the book is severely afflicted by its time of writing. Finished in 2003, the influence of 9/11 is clearly felt, even before the afterword specifically dedicated to it, and not for the better. Early chapters take repeated digressions into criticizing Islamic “inwardness,” ultimately for very little reason. Later chapters repeatedly turn to comparisons to the Gulf War, despite them being out of place. Overall, Hallion is unable to fully break from his own Air Force career and the time of writing, and the result are digressions into modern American military jargon that are disconcerting and out of place, even for a reader well accustomed to them in their proper context.
Still, the core of the text is fundamentally solid, covering every notable, and many non-notable figures, of the early age of flight. I could have wished for slightly more on the cultural invention of the “aerial age”, which I had supposed to be the purpose of the book, but was not disappointed by the technical focus. The cover is also truly beautiful, which despite what they say, is always important.
Still, the core of the text is fundamentally solid, covering every notable, and many non-notable figures, of the early age of flight. I could have wished for slightly more on the cultural invention of the “aerial age”, which I had supposed to be the purpose of the book, but was not disappointed by the technical focus. The cover is also truly beautiful, which despite what they say, is always important.
January 4, 2016
Richard Hallion's book offers its readers an encyclopedic overview of the history of flight, from the earliest legends through the First World War. Though his focus is on heavier-than-air flight, he also includes extensive coverage of the development of lighter-than-air craft and how it influenced aeronautical development. Throughout this book, Hallion demonstrates both an impressive range of knowledge and a welcome capacity for explaining some of the more technical details of aerodynamics - one that is especially welcome when it comes to explaining why so many of the Wrights' predecessors failed in their attempts to master flight.
The portrait Hallion paints is a fascinating one. He conveys the extent to which the Wright brothers built upon the achievements of both their predecessors and their contemporaries. Developments were reaching a critical mass, which - as Hallion repeatedly asserts - would almost certainly have led to heavier-than-air flight by 1910 (with the first flight most likely taking place in France). Nevertheless, the author does not underrate the Wrights' considerable accomplishment and its contribution to our history. Even after Europeans were first taking to the air in heavier-than-air craft, the Wrights' Flyer was still considerably superior to its counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic - as Wilbur Wright himself demonstrated in his 1908 tour of Europe.
As Hallion shows, however, Wilbur's tour represented the pinnacle of the Wrights' achievement. He describes the year 1909 as the year when the invention of flight ended and its refinement begins. In this phase the Europeans had a considerable advantage, for as the Wrights were pioneering flight the Europeans were focusing more on the scientific study of aerodynamics, something which Hallion sees as integral to the shift in aeronautical advancement from the New World back to the Old. Wedded to an increasingly obsolescent (and inherently dangerous) design, the Wrights no longer represented the leading edge of airplane development, one that was moving forward at a dramatic rate. Before the First World War ended, airplanes were already demonstrating speed, endurance, and applications that most people take for granted today but which almost none of the early pioneers had imagined were possible.
Yet while Hallion's book is one of the best histories of its subject, at times it suffers from an excess of detail. Hallion's knowledge of virtually every nugget of information is reflected in the text, even if it adds little to the reader's understanding of aeronautics. Hallion's book also suffers from his tendency to overemphasize the historical impact of the airplane, especially in the First World War, implying, for example, that the course of events at the battles of Tannenberg and the Marne was altered because of the use of airplanes, yet he offers no evidence to substantiate this claim beyond stressing the role the planes played as scouts while understating the other sources of information available to the commanders. These flaws, however, don't detract from the book's overall value as a description of humanity's long journey to flight and how ultimately it was achieved.
The portrait Hallion paints is a fascinating one. He conveys the extent to which the Wright brothers built upon the achievements of both their predecessors and their contemporaries. Developments were reaching a critical mass, which - as Hallion repeatedly asserts - would almost certainly have led to heavier-than-air flight by 1910 (with the first flight most likely taking place in France). Nevertheless, the author does not underrate the Wrights' considerable accomplishment and its contribution to our history. Even after Europeans were first taking to the air in heavier-than-air craft, the Wrights' Flyer was still considerably superior to its counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic - as Wilbur Wright himself demonstrated in his 1908 tour of Europe.
As Hallion shows, however, Wilbur's tour represented the pinnacle of the Wrights' achievement. He describes the year 1909 as the year when the invention of flight ended and its refinement begins. In this phase the Europeans had a considerable advantage, for as the Wrights were pioneering flight the Europeans were focusing more on the scientific study of aerodynamics, something which Hallion sees as integral to the shift in aeronautical advancement from the New World back to the Old. Wedded to an increasingly obsolescent (and inherently dangerous) design, the Wrights no longer represented the leading edge of airplane development, one that was moving forward at a dramatic rate. Before the First World War ended, airplanes were already demonstrating speed, endurance, and applications that most people take for granted today but which almost none of the early pioneers had imagined were possible.
Yet while Hallion's book is one of the best histories of its subject, at times it suffers from an excess of detail. Hallion's knowledge of virtually every nugget of information is reflected in the text, even if it adds little to the reader's understanding of aeronautics. Hallion's book also suffers from his tendency to overemphasize the historical impact of the airplane, especially in the First World War, implying, for example, that the course of events at the battles of Tannenberg and the Marne was altered because of the use of airplanes, yet he offers no evidence to substantiate this claim beyond stressing the role the planes played as scouts while understating the other sources of information available to the commanders. These flaws, however, don't detract from the book's overall value as a description of humanity's long journey to flight and how ultimately it was achieved.
December 29, 2012
This is an excellent history of early aviation. It starts, as many such histories do, with origins buried deep in history and mythology, but the best part of the book describes the technical evolution that started in the 18th century and continued until flight was an established technology in the early 20th century. The work also contains a short summary of the evolution of aviation during the first world war and shortly thereafter, which feels a bit out of place until you consider the goals of the author.
Hallion has described the origins of aviation from an US (or, as he consistently writes, American) perspective. This is no nationalist epic, but a serious attempt to figure out why French scientists and engineers largely dominated the development of aviation from the invention of the balloon in 1783 to the middle of the 1920s, with that one very important, anomalous exception: The actual invention of a airplane capable of powered, sustained and controlled flight by the Wright brothers in 1903. If the Wrights had not been first, Hallion concludes, the first successful airplane would have been built in France, probably before 1910. He assesses the strengths and weaknesses of Wilbur and Orville Wright, which brought them success in 1903 but also made them unable to maintain the leadership for more than a few years. When their bitter rival Glenn Curtiss won a speed race in Reims in 1909, few people could have imagined that the next time an American pilot would win a race in an American-built plane would be sixteen years later.
Thus this is not simply a history of men and machines, although there is plenty of room for them. It is also a history of scientific and technical culture and policy, and one that does much to scrape away layers of erroneous stories that have accumulated over the years. He highlights the importance of the international community of inventors, engineers and scientists that created the first flying machines, and demonstrates how innovative engineering tied in with basic research in aerodynamics. He analyses where real progress was made, and where mistakes were made that guided people down dead alleys. Although Hallion does not make it too explicit, he clearly intends the work to be a lesson for future policy makers.
"Taking Flight" is generally written in a clear and precise style, but there are a few lines that don't add up to sentences, perhaps the result of mistakes during editing. The illustrations are not copious but well chosen.
Hallion has described the origins of aviation from an US (or, as he consistently writes, American) perspective. This is no nationalist epic, but a serious attempt to figure out why French scientists and engineers largely dominated the development of aviation from the invention of the balloon in 1783 to the middle of the 1920s, with that one very important, anomalous exception: The actual invention of a airplane capable of powered, sustained and controlled flight by the Wright brothers in 1903. If the Wrights had not been first, Hallion concludes, the first successful airplane would have been built in France, probably before 1910. He assesses the strengths and weaknesses of Wilbur and Orville Wright, which brought them success in 1903 but also made them unable to maintain the leadership for more than a few years. When their bitter rival Glenn Curtiss won a speed race in Reims in 1909, few people could have imagined that the next time an American pilot would win a race in an American-built plane would be sixteen years later.
Thus this is not simply a history of men and machines, although there is plenty of room for them. It is also a history of scientific and technical culture and policy, and one that does much to scrape away layers of erroneous stories that have accumulated over the years. He highlights the importance of the international community of inventors, engineers and scientists that created the first flying machines, and demonstrates how innovative engineering tied in with basic research in aerodynamics. He analyses where real progress was made, and where mistakes were made that guided people down dead alleys. Although Hallion does not make it too explicit, he clearly intends the work to be a lesson for future policy makers.
"Taking Flight" is generally written in a clear and precise style, but there are a few lines that don't add up to sentences, perhaps the result of mistakes during editing. The illustrations are not copious but well chosen.
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September 3, 2013 Viewing the spectacular footage on YouTube of Canada's successful flights of the replica Silver Dart, sadly, reminded me of the somewhat less successful Wright Flyer replica flights. I have been further distressed to see lingering debates in other forums, desiring to continue the "First in Flight" controversy. I wish to share my thoughts here on Richard Hallion's 2003 book "Taking Flight: Inventing the Aerial Age from Antiquity to the First World War, in the hope that those who wish to continue said debate may read it and draw the same conclusions from it that I have.
Drawing from numerous sources (nearly one-fifth of the book's 531 pages are bibliographic notes) , Hallion outlines Mankind's quest for flight from the earliest notions (mythological, religious). He then meticulously moves into the scientific explorations, careful to separate the Aerostatic (balloon, airships) from the Aerodynamic (gliders, aircraft), but keeping a well-written chronological pace. Hallion never forgets to introduce us to the individuals responsible for both Aviation's advancement and its regression. Such introductions never fail to be pleasant reading: his description of the embryonic Aeronautical Society (of Great Britain) led me to imagine such distinguished gentlemen feeling most at home contributing to Internet forums.
Hallion-in it's due time- documents Wilber and Orville's arrival on the world aviation stage: their eventual success in the manned flight triptych (powered, sustained, controlled), and the legal battle with Glenn Curtiss. Unfortunately, most (though not all) previous reviews of this book tend to dwell heavily on this section, overlooking (in my opinion), the wider scope and overall theme. While every individual should have their due recognition, the epic which is Flight is, and will always be, one of the grandest Human endeavors; transcending nationalities and borders, and continually building on what has gone before.
Drawing from numerous sources (nearly one-fifth of the book's 531 pages are bibliographic notes) , Hallion outlines Mankind's quest for flight from the earliest notions (mythological, religious). He then meticulously moves into the scientific explorations, careful to separate the Aerostatic (balloon, airships) from the Aerodynamic (gliders, aircraft), but keeping a well-written chronological pace. Hallion never forgets to introduce us to the individuals responsible for both Aviation's advancement and its regression. Such introductions never fail to be pleasant reading: his description of the embryonic Aeronautical Society (of Great Britain) led me to imagine such distinguished gentlemen feeling most at home contributing to Internet forums.
Hallion-in it's due time- documents Wilber and Orville's arrival on the world aviation stage: their eventual success in the manned flight triptych (powered, sustained, controlled), and the legal battle with Glenn Curtiss. Unfortunately, most (though not all) previous reviews of this book tend to dwell heavily on this section, overlooking (in my opinion), the wider scope and overall theme. While every individual should have their due recognition, the epic which is Flight is, and will always be, one of the grandest Human endeavors; transcending nationalities and borders, and continually building on what has gone before.
July 29, 2013
Finally. A book on aviation history that doesn't begin with the Wright Brothers. Like mankind itself, the airplane did not spring fully formed from sort of primordial ooze. The Wrights don't make an their entrance until well past Taking Flight's halfway mark. Hallion gives the Brothers their due credit while also wisely dressing the Dayton boys down for lack of innovation and design when it came to the "what's next" question. Yes, the Wright's designed and built the first powered, controllable aerial vehicle--but now what? The Wrights fundamentally did not know what to do with their innovation.
Hallion begins well in the time before the birth of Christ with his examination of just how fundamentally obsessed mankind has always been with flying. While we didn't begin to realize the dream until the 18th century with the balloon (a fascinating, little known tale), humans have always had a fundamental understanding of the need to see things from a bird's eye view. More to the point, we've always understood how much better we could kill one another if we had aerial imagery.
After the debacle of the Wright's Hallion largely bogs down in the "need for speed" world of the decade and a half following the invention of the airplane. Until this point, the book is a riveting read. This is required reading on par with Fate Is The Hunter or anything by Richard Buck.
Hallion begins well in the time before the birth of Christ with his examination of just how fundamentally obsessed mankind has always been with flying. While we didn't begin to realize the dream until the 18th century with the balloon (a fascinating, little known tale), humans have always had a fundamental understanding of the need to see things from a bird's eye view. More to the point, we've always understood how much better we could kill one another if we had aerial imagery.
After the debacle of the Wright's Hallion largely bogs down in the "need for speed" world of the decade and a half following the invention of the airplane. Until this point, the book is a riveting read. This is required reading on par with Fate Is The Hunter or anything by Richard Buck.
February 24, 2017
Useful compendium of all Euro-American efforts at flight through the Wright Brothers. Warning: I only read through the end of the Wright Brothers; until they licensed their technology to the US, France and England.
I was somewhat dismayed to find that the author gives substantial design credit to Clement Ader, the inventor of the bat-winged Avion III that was too heavy to really fly. The author also attempts to dislodge certain misconceptions about what the Wright Brothers accomplished by emphasizing the efforts and achievements of others … but his section on the Wright Brothers shows that they either really did accomplish quite a bit more than other early pioneers, or they were only far and away better at documentation than the others were, because the volume of specific findings by them is not matched in the other chapters of the early experimenters. Okay, okay, full disclosure --- I was raised near Dayton, Ohio, by an airplane enthusiast and pilot.
I was somewhat dismayed to find that the author gives substantial design credit to Clement Ader, the inventor of the bat-winged Avion III that was too heavy to really fly. The author also attempts to dislodge certain misconceptions about what the Wright Brothers accomplished by emphasizing the efforts and achievements of others … but his section on the Wright Brothers shows that they either really did accomplish quite a bit more than other early pioneers, or they were only far and away better at documentation than the others were, because the volume of specific findings by them is not matched in the other chapters of the early experimenters. Okay, okay, full disclosure --- I was raised near Dayton, Ohio, by an airplane enthusiast and pilot.
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April 18, 2010One of the things that readers of this book will discover is that the Europeans learned from the Wright brothers and quickly were building superior flying machines. This is especially true of French airframes and engines.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews