"The pioneers of early flight performed death-defying feats and broke new technological ground as they took to the skies to thrill crowds and advance the boundaries of human innovation"--Provided by publisher.

Describes seventeen twentieth-century historic flights and their pilots, from the Wright brothers to those of the space shuttles.

Chronicles man's attempts to fly from the ancients to Kitty Hawk.

"In 1919, in Newfoundland, four teams of aviators came from Britain to compete in "the Big Hop": an audacious race to be the first to fly, nonstop, across the Atlantic Ocean. One pair of competitors was forced to abandon the journey halfway, and two pairs never made it into the air. Only one team, after a death-defying sixteen-hour flight, made it to Ireland"-- Provided by publisher

Presents the development of jet passenger aircraft in America and elsewhere.