Most people recognize Wilbur and Orville Wright as the first in flight, in 1903, on the blustery sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. But few know that the next aviator, a Brazilian, flew almost three years later and was nevertheless widely credited as being the first. Or that a world-famous escapologist, a Hungarian, made the first flights in Australia but afterwards never flew again. Or that in Spain the first public display of a flying machine led to religious riots.
The first pilots from each of a hundred countries have their stories told in this work. A “flight” is defined as that made by a “heavier-than-air machine capable of taking off from ground level carrying a pilot, who controls to some degree the ascent, descent and path of the machine.” To be called “successful,” the flight must be “sustained past the point to which the machine’s take-off momentum would normally carry it through the air.”

Hart Matthews is a freelance writer and photographer. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Hart Matthews
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 216
Bibliographic Info: 111 photos, chronology, glossary, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009 [2003]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3880-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     v
Introduction     1

The Countries     7
The Chronology     179
Glossary     189
Notes     193
Bibliography     195
Index     205

“compelling reading…an interesting international approach to the fascinating history of flight…useful”—Booklist; “helpful, attractive biographical guide will benefit all collections…recommended”—Choice; “numerous photos”—College & Research Libraries; “recommended”—ARBA; “an intriguing work that will fill a void in aviation history…highly recommended”—E-Streams.