Aircraft: Its Development in War and Peace and Its Commercial Future

The object of this book is to explain the fundamental principles of aeronautics and to point out the historic development of both the heavier-than-air and the lighter-than-air craft. The treatment is simple. Technical phrases have been avoided wherever possible. Emphasis has been laid on the changes in the design or construction of aeroplanes and dirigibles, which show the evolution of flight and aircraft from early experiments with balloons and gliders to the transatlantic flights of the NC-4, the Vickers "Vimy" Bomber, and the R-34. Only those things have been singled out which indicated a step forward in the science of aeronautics. Emphasis is placed upon the commercial accomplishments of the aeroplane and the dirigible, and many of the present uses and future possibilities of aircraft as a commercial vehicle have been pointed out.