Spirit of America Bookstore

A History of Aviation

color postcard of Boeing 314 flying boat over the Golden Gate Bridge & Marin County          short history

books on aviation history

pioneers

timeline

The Space Race

film festival

links

some pungent quotation
— somebody



          B I O

          t e x t

          h e r e

Aviation Vintage Art category at AllPosters.com



books on aviation history
History of Aviation catalog at Amazon

"Before Amelia" by Eileen F. Lebow (Brassey)



Aviation Pioneers

folks who preceded Kittyhawk were
Lyman Gilmore of Colfax, California (steam-powered aeroplane, 1902)
Samuel Langley
Richard Pearce of New Zealand (uncontrolable flight)
Preston Watson of Scotland (glider)


The Wright Brothers
Orville Wright [1871–1948] & Wilbur Wright [1867–1912]
bookswebsitePBS 'Innovators' episodeCentennial Dec 2003PBS bio

Amazon's 'Celebration of Flight'


The Golden Age of Aviation
http://www.earlyaviators.com/ebanning.htm
aviatrix Pancho Barnes
aviatrix Amelia Earhart
aviator Charles A. Lindbergh [1902-74] & Anne Morrow Lindbergh
"The Lives of Beryl Markham" by Errol Trzebinski (pb- Mar 1995) 0393312526
aviator Wiley Post [1898-1935]
aviatrix Louise M. Thaden



Aviation & Space Timeline
1903 Kittyhawk
1904 Wright Bros. made significant improvement to their flying machine
1905 Wright Bros.s built the historically-official 'first practical heavier-than-air flying mcahine'
1906 Brazilian ex-pat Alberto Santos-Dumont made the first FAI-certified flight in France (leading to chauvinistic claims that Wrights were not first)
1906 May 22: The Wright Brothers received the patent for their flying machine.
1908 Wright Bros. added a more powerful engine to their flying machine, allowing easier takeoffs and better maneuverability
1908 Wilbur Wright flew exhibitions in Europe, shattering all previous records for distance, duration and altitude
1912 Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever
1915 Orville sold Wright Co., became almost recluse in Dayton (xx Hill)
1929 Nov 29: First airplane flight over the South Pole, with U.S. Navy Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd, pilot Bernt Balchen & photographer Ashley McKinney aboard.
James Herman Banning was the first Afro-American to fly coast-to-coast, accompanied by mechanic Thomas Allen. The flight encompassed 42 hours aloft, but took 21 days because they needed to raise money for gasoline at each stop.
1933 July 22: American aviator Wiley Post completed the first solo flight around the world in seven days and 18-3/4 hours.
1948 Jan 27: Orville Wright died
USAF SR-71 operational 12=64, halted 1990; did Mach 3 (approx 2280 MPH) at 85.000 feet



The Space Race

SPACE TRAVELERS Carlo Burton aka Charles Evans - 2009 - 80m
A documentary on legendary aerospace pioneer & designer Burt Rutan

Truth, Lies, and O-Rings / Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
Allan J. McDonald & James R. Hansen http://booksxyz.com/profile3805018.php

scientist Robert Goddard = 'father of rocketry'? --refer to Hermann Oberth in Germany?

BOOK on Apollo Pgm "For All Mankind" by Harry Hunt III

"Apollo 13" [1995]
full credits from IMDb

rocket scientist Robert Goddard [1882-1945]



World War I German Luftwaffe Fokker triplane

Aviation Film Festival

"Wings" [1927]: full credits at IMDb

"Hell's  Angels" [United Artists Nov 1930]
Produced & directed by Howard Hughes; starring Ben Lyon, James Hall,
Jean Harlow & John Darrow; Oscar nominated for Best Cinematography
full credits from IMDb

"Flying Tigers" [1942]
Starring John Wayne; full credits at IMDb

"The  Memphis  Belle:  A  Story  of  a  Flying  Fortress"
[Produced by F.M.P.U. of the U.S.A.A.F.; Paramount theatrical release April 1944]
Memphis Belle movie   Directed by William Wyler; cinematography by 1Lt. Harold J. Tannenbaum; listed by National Film Directory 2001
Platinum color DVD [11/2001] for $6.99
Timeless color VHS [3/2000] for $12.99
Tapeworm color VHS [12/99] out of stock/used
Tapeworm color VHS [11/90] out of stock/used
full credits at IMDbmovie fansite
Memphis Belle remake   1990 remake [Warner Bros.]
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones; script by Monte Merrick; starring Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney, Harry Connick Jr., David Strathairn & John Lithgow
Warner color DVD [5/98] for $9.88
Warner color VHS [5/95] out of prodn/many used
Varese soundtrack CD [10/90] for $16.98
full credits at IMDb

Memphis Belle B-17 Flying Fortress official website
restored Liberty Belle B-17 Flying Fortress of Atlanta, GA

"Strategic Air Command" [1955]: full credits at IMDb
Directed by Anthony Mann; starring James Stewart & June Allyson

"Lafayette Escadrille" [1958]
Co-written & directed by William A. Wellman; starring Tab Hunter, David Janssen, Will Hutchins
& Clint Eastwood; full credits at IMDb

"The Right Stuff" [The Ladd Company 1983]
full credits from IMDb

"The Aviator"
feature film [Miramax 17 Dec 2004]
The Aviator movie   Produced & directed by Martin Scorsese; written by John Logan {'inspired by' the book "Howard Hughes: The Untold Story" by Peter Harry Brown & Pat H. Broeske, as well as "Howard Hughes: The Secret Life" by Charles Higham}; starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the young Howard Hughes; cast includes Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow, and John C. Reilly as Noah Dietrich; with Ian Holm, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin & Willem Dafoe; nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor [LD], Best Supporting Actor [Alda], Best Sound; won Oscars for Best Supporting Actress [CB], Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costumes; also won ACE/Eddy, 4 BAFTA Awards, SAG's Best Supporting Actress [CB], and others; nominated for DGA & WGA awards
Warner widescreen color DVD [5/2005] 2 disks for $6.99
Warner full-screen color DVD [5/2005] 2 disks for $11.99
Warner color VHS [5/2005] out of prodn/used
Sony soundtrack CD [12/2004] for $14.99
full credits from IMDb
FK's unofficial fansite movie pagestudio's official website
screenplay by John Logan: Miramax 9x6 pb [12/2004] for $10.95

"Flyboys" [2006]: full credits at IMDb
Young Americans of the Lafayette Escadrille; directed by Tony Bill

"Amelia" [Fox Searchlight Oct 2009]
2009 Amelia Earhart movie poster   Amelia Earhart followed her dream of flying, from the first woman to fly across the Atlantic to the first woman to fly around the world. Her tragic disappearance over the South Pacific in July 1937 cemented the legend that she wanted to become. Co-produced by Ronald Bass, Hilary Swank & others; directed by Mira Nair; written by Ronald Bass & Anna Hamilton Phelan, officially based on two books; starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Mia Wasikowska, Christopher Eccleston, Joe Anderson & Cherry Jones
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits from IMDbofficial movie site
Gabriel Yared soundtrack CD from Varese Records [11/2009] for $17.98
East to the Dawn biography of Amelia Earhart by Susan Butler  
"East To The Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart" [1997]
by Susan Butler

Da Capo Press 8¾x6 movie tie-in pb [8/2009] for $10.85
Da Capo Press 8¾x6 pb [5/99] for $17.95
Da Capo Press 8¾x6½ hardcover [10/97] out of print/used
Sound of Wings biography of Amelia Earhart by Mary S. Lovell   "The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart" [1989]
by Mary S. Lovell

St. Martin's Griffin 9x6 pb [9/2009] for $12.23
St. Martin's Griffin 8¾x5¾ pb [2/91] out of print/many used
St. Martins Press 8½x6 hardcover [10/89] out of print/many, many used

untitled feature film is now 'under development' about aviation pioneer Louise M. Thaden
and the all-female transcontinental air race of 1929
based on her 1938 book “High, Wide and Frightened”
http://www.amazon.com/HIGH-WIDE-FRIGHTENED-Louise-Thaden/dp/155728766X/



Links
Flight Path Learning Center & Museum at LAX = www.flightpath.US
NATL AVIATION HALL OF FAME >> hrh
http://www.nationalaviation.org/website/index.asp?webpageid={29B403C2-424A-40CE-9A74-0DB137828215}
http://www.earlyaviator.com/
http//www.firstflightcentennial.org/
http://www.flight100.org
http://www.MuseumOfFlight.org in Seattle WA



Online sales in association with  History of Aviation catalog at Amazon  and  Aviation Vintage Art category at AllPosters.com

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