San Antonio College Library

A collection of writings by many of the pioneers of flight that discuss their ideas, scientific discoveries, and flight attempts.

"Until now, no one has told the story of aviation as one of frontier expansion. David T. Courtwright does so in Sky as Frontier. He has written an ambitious history of American aviation ranging from the patent fight between the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss through the tragedy of 9/11 and the Iraq War. Along the way, Courtwright stops to consider dogfighting, barnstorming, the first airmail pilots, the development of airlines, air power during...

"Working with archival sources, newspapers, patent records, and personal accounts, Tom Parramore recounts North Carolina's significant role in the early history of aviation. Beginning well before the Wright brothers' first powered flight at Kill Devil Hill in 1905, North Caolinians labored at the cutting edge of aviation technology from the late 1800s through World War I. First to Fly tells a remarkable story, filled with dreamers, inventors, and...

"A celebration of aviation's first 100 years. In 1903, the Wright Brothers achieved powered flight for the first time in history. Today, the wingspan length of commercial aircraft surpasses the distance of Orville Wright's first flight. Wild About Flying is the story of flight as told through the people who changed the world forever. The book tells the true-life adventures of the pioneers, inventors, aviators, designers, engineers, navigators, test-pilots...

From the beginning, air flight in Canada presented dizzying possibilities. It would link citizens across the country and make it possible to exploit Canada's immense natural resources. But there were formidable hurdles to overcome. Follow the story of the Beaver, Canada's solution to flying back-country; of native communities taking command of their destiny by owning their own airline; of fighting forest fires the Canadian way; and of the "Aurora...