Download or read book Glenn Curtiss written by Alden Hatch and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic biography returns to print after 60 years! Although the Wright Brothers are remembered for performing the first human flight, Glenn Curtiss stands as the most important aviator in American history. Like his friend Alexander Graham Bell, Curtiss was a master inventor as well as a daredevil. He won the first airplane race in history (the 1909 Gordon Bennett Cup), and he was the first pilot to take off from and land an airplane on the deck of a ship. He invented the twin flying boat, which became a mainstay for the Allies during the First World War, and his NC-4 Flying Boat performed the first transatlantic flight in 1919—eight years before Charles Lindbergh’s flight. Curtiss planes eventually trained 95 percent of all American pilots in the first half of the 20th century. Fans of aviation, history and compelling biographies of famous Americans such as Howard Hughes will be delighted to read about Glenn Curtiss.

Download or read book Glenn Curtiss written by C. R. Roseberry and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 1991-09-01 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glenn Curtiss (1878–1930) was a self-taught aeronautical engineer, a self-­made industrialist, and one of the first airplane pilots, the model for “Tom Swift.” C. R. Roseberry’s biography begins with Curtiss’s years in Hammondsport, New York, his experiments with designing and learning to fly his own airplanes, and his many “firsts” in aviation history. Establishing one of the first aviation schools, Curtiss also developed a highly successful aviation company and designed one of the most popular early American planes—the Curtiss JN-4 (the “Jenny”). More than just a biography, this is also a well-documented history of the development of aviation and the key figures associated with it during the first three crucial decades of this century. Through an examination of Curtiss’s dealings with people such as Alexander Graham Bell, his original partner, and Wilbur and Orville Wright, his most important rivals, Roseberry provides insight into the overall development of flight in America. Aviation enthusiasts, historians, those interested in American technology and industry, and all who enjoy a good story will welcome this book.

Download or read book Birdmen written by Lawrence Goldstone and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2015-04-21 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From acclaimed historian Lawrence Goldstone comes a thrilling narrative of courage, determination, and competition: the story of the intense rivalry that fueled the rise of American aviation. The feud between this nation’s great air pioneers, the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, was a collision of unyielding and profoundly American personalities. On one side, a pair of tenacious siblings who together had solved the centuries-old riddle of powered, heavier-than-air flight. On the other, an audacious motorcycle racer whose innovative aircraft became synonymous in the public mind with death-defying stunts. For more than a decade, they battled each other in court, at air shows, and in the newspapers. The outcome of this contest of wills would shape the course of aviation history—and take a fearsome toll on the men involved. Birdmen sets the engrossing story of the Wrights’ war with Curtiss against the thrilling backdrop of the early years of manned flight, and is rich with period detail and larger-than-life personalities: Thomas Scott Baldwin, or “Cap’t Tom” as he styled himself, who invented the parachute and almost convinced the world that balloons were the future of aviation; John Moisant, the dapper daredevil who took to the skies after three failed attempts to overthrow the government of El Salvador, then quickly emerged as a celebrity flyer; and Harriet Quimby, the statuesque silent-film beauty who became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. And then there is Lincoln Beachey, perhaps the greatest aviator who ever lived, who dazzled crowds with an array of trademark twists and dives—and best embodied the romance with death that fueled so many of aviation’s earliest heroes. A dramatic story of unimaginable bravery in the air and brutal competition on the ground, Birdmen is at once a thrill ride through flight’s wild early years and a surprising look at the personal clash that fueled America’s race to the skies. Praise for Birdmen “A meticulously researched account of the first few hectic, tangled years of aviation and the curious characters who pursued it . . . a worthy companion to Richard Holmes’s marvelous history of ballooning, Falling Upwards.”—Time “The daredevil scientists and engineers who forged the field of aeronautics spring vividly to life in Lawrence Goldstone’s history.”—Nature “The history of the development of an integral part of the modern world and a fascinating portrayal of how a group of men and women achieved a dream that had captivated humanity for centuries.”—The Christian Science Monitor “Captivating and wonderfully presented . . . a fine book about these rival pioneers.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] vivid story of invention, vendettas, derring-do, media hype and patent fights [with] modern resonance.”—Financial Times “A powerful story that contrasts soaring hopes with the anchors of ego and courtroom.”—Kirkus Reviews “A riveting narrative about the pioneering era of aeronautics in America and beyond . . . Goldstone raises questions of enduring importance regarding innovation and the indefinite exertion of control over ideas that go public.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Download or read book Glenn Curtiss written by C.R. Roseberry and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biografi over den amerikanske pilot og flykonstruktør, Glenn Curtiss.

Download or read book Unlocking The Sky written by Seth Shulman and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlocking the Sky tells the extraordinary tale of the race to design, refine, and manufacture a manned flying machine, a race that took place in the air, on the ground, and in the courtrooms of America. While the Wright brothers threw a veil of secrecy over their flying machine, Glenn Hammond Curtiss -- perhaps the greatest aviator and aeronautical inventor of all time -- freely exchanged information with engineers in America and abroad, resulting in his famous airplane, the June Bug, which made the first ever public flight in America. Fiercely jealous, the Wright brothers took to the courts to keep Curtiss and his airplane out of the sky and off the market. Ultimately, however, it was Curtiss's innovations and designs, not the Wright brothers', that served as the model for the modern airplane.

Download or read book Curtiss Wright written by Kirk W. House and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The oldest names in aviation joined forces in 1929, when Wright Aeronautical and Curtiss Aeroplane formed the giant Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Curtiss airplanes were already “the best things with wings,” while Charles Lawrance had made Wright powerplants the leader in American radial engines. Aviation founding father Glenn Curtiss, along with superstars Charles A. Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Admiral Byrd, and “Wrong-Way” Corrigan, all blazed skytrails with Wright engines and Curtiss wings. Tiny Sparrowhawk biplane fighters flew from airborne dirigibles. Huge factories poured out war birds in tens of thousands for World War II. Pilots flew them everywhere, from the African desert to Alaskan ice, South Sea islands, and even the Taj Mahal. Relive those days when women, old men, and teenagers kept the factories roaring, and follow Curtiss-Wright clear into the 21st century.

Download or read book Glenn Curtiss written by Alden Hatch and published by . This book was released on 1944 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Flying Tigers written by Sam Kleiner and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thrilling story behind the American pilots who were secretly recruited to defend the nation’s desperate Chinese allies before Pearl Harbor and ended up on the front lines of the war against the Japanese in the Pacific. Sam Kleiner’s The Flying Tigers uncovers the hidden story of the group of young American men and women who crossed the Pacific before Pearl Harbor to risk their lives defending China. Led by legendary army pilot Claire Chennault, these men left behind an America still at peace in the summer of 1941 using false identities to travel across the Pacific to a run-down airbase in the jungles of Burma. In the wake of the disaster at Pearl Harbor this motley crew was the first group of Americans to take on the Japanese in combat, shooting down hundreds of Japanese aircraft in the skies over Burma, Thailand, and China. At a time when the Allies were being defeated across the globe, the Flying Tigers’ exploits gave hope to Americans and Chinese alike. Kleiner takes readers into the cockpits of their iconic shark-nosed P-40 planes—one of the most familiar images of the war—as the Tigers perform nail-biting missions against the Japanese. He profiles the outsize personalities involved in the operation, including Chennault, whose aggressive tactics went against the prevailing wisdom of military strategy; Greg “Pappy” Boyington, the man who would become the nation’s most beloved pilot until he was shot down and became a POW; Emma Foster, one of the nurses in the unit who had a passionate romance with a pilot named John Petach; and Madame Chiang Kai-shek herself, who first brought Chennault to China and who would come to visit these young Americans. A dramatic story of a covert operation whose very existence would have scandalized an isolationist United States, The Flying Tigers is the unforgettable account of a group of Americans whose heroism changed the world, and who cemented an alliance between the United States and China as both nations fought against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Download or read book Hero of the Air written by William F Trimble and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2010-05-15 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the role of Glenn H. Curtiss in the origins of aviation in the United States Navy. A self-taught mechanic and inventor, Curtiss was a key figure in the development of the airplane during the early part of the century. His contributions are generally well known, among them a control system using the aileron instead of the Wrights’ wing-warping, the first successful hydro-airplane and flying boat, among other developments. Curtiss’s links to the Navy came as result of advocates of aviation in the Navy, chief among them Captain Washington I. Chambers, who recognized that the navy had special requirements for airplanes and their operations, and for aviators and their training. In a partnership with the navy, Curtiss helped meet the special requirements of the service for aircraft, particularly those with the potential for operating with naval vessels at sea or in conducting long-distance flights over water. He also was instrumental in training the first naval aviators. Curtiss and the navy continued their collaboration through World War I, reaching a climax in 1919 with the first transatlantic flight by the famed Navy-Curtiss NC flying boats. The book addresses the broader implications of the Curtiss-Navy collaboration in the context of the long-standing trend of government-private cooperation in the introduction and development of new technologies. It also explores the interactive dynamics of weapons procurement and technological change within a large and entrenched bureaucracy and helps lay to rest the persistent myth that the navy resisted the introduction of aviation. The pioneering work of Curtiss and his close ties with Chambers and others helped the navy to define the role of aviation in the years up to and through World War I. The book will relies heavily on primary source materials from a variety of archival collections, including the Library of Congress, National Archives, National Air and Space Museum, and the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum.

Download or read book Jannus an American Flier written by Thomas Reilly and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounts the aviation achievements of Tony Jannus, a prewar aviator who helped launch the first scheduled airline operation in the United States

Download or read book Hell Rider to King of the Air written by Kirk House and published by SAE International. This book was released on 2003-09-10 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hero or Villain? There's no question that Glenn Curtiss was one of the most significant figures in the early development of motorcycles, aviation, and engine development. This book will take you on a journey through both his life and his innovative technological developments. And what a life it was. Descriptions of this man prove to be contradictory and controversial. He was quiet, yet dashing. Kind, yet stern. Uneducated, yet a technological and entrepreneurial pioneer. He began his inventing career by building and racing motorcycles, while creating new internal combustion engines, then moved on to work with dirigibles, airplanes (particularly seaplanes), community development, and travel trailers. In the end, Glenn Curtiss - a man respected by contemporaries for his character - went to his grave accused of fiduciary irresponsibility and patent theft. His bitter patent disputes with the Wright Brothers leave many wondering whether Curtiss should be seen as a hero or a villain when his place in history is considered. Hell-Rider to King of the Air examines Curtiss's life, career, and accomplishments in an engaging and accessible way, so that readers can answer that question for themselves.

Download or read book Wilbur and Orville written by Fred Howard and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2013-04-26 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Definitive, crisply written study tells the full story of the brothers' lives and work — from their early childhood and initial fascination with flight, the historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, more.

Download or read book Glenn Curtiss Pioneer Pilot written by Kathryn Cramer and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography of a contemporary of the Wright brothers whose interest in bicycle racing led to contributions in the development of aviation, notably the seaplane and aircraft carrier.

Download or read book Lost Inwood written by Cole Thompson and Don Rice and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2019 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Inwood, the northern most neighborhood of Manhattan, has a rich yet little-known history. For centuries, the region remained practically unchanged--a quaint, country village known to early Dutch settlers as Tubby Hook. The subway's arrival in the early 1900s transformed the area, once scorned as "ten miles from a beefsteak," from farm to city virtually overnight. The same construction boom sparked an age of neighborhood self-discovery, when vestiges of the past--in the form of mastodon bones, arrowheads, colonial pottery, Revolutionary War cannonballs, and forgotten cemeteries--emerged from the earth. Waves of German, Irish, and Dominican immigrants subsequently produced a vibrant urban oasis with a big-city/small-town feel. Inwood has also been home to wealthy country estates, pre-integration sports arenas, and a lively waterfront culture. Famous residents have included NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Basketball Diaries author Jim Carroll, and Hamilton creator/star Lin-Manuel Miranda."--Publisher's description

Download or read book Sky As Frontier written by David T. Courtwright and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at how aviation's frontier lasted only a scant 3 decades, then vanished as commercial and military imperatives made flying routine.

Download or read book Birdmen written by Lawrence Goldstone and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2015-04-21 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From acclaimed historian Lawrence Goldstone comes a thrilling narrative of courage, determination, and competition: the story of the intense rivalry that fueled the rise of American aviation. The feud between this nation’s great air pioneers, the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, was a collision of unyielding and profoundly American personalities. On one side, a pair of tenacious siblings who together had solved the centuries-old riddle of powered, heavier-than-air flight. On the other, an audacious motorcycle racer whose innovative aircraft became synonymous in the public mind with death-defying stunts. For more than a decade, they battled each other in court, at air shows, and in the newspapers. The outcome of this contest of wills would shape the course of aviation history—and take a fearsome toll on the men involved. Birdmen sets the engrossing story of the Wrights’ war with Curtiss against the thrilling backdrop of the early years of manned flight, and is rich with period detail and larger-than-life personalities: Thomas Scott Baldwin, or “Cap’t Tom” as he styled himself, who invented the parachute and almost convinced the world that balloons were the future of aviation; John Moisant, the dapper daredevil who took to the skies after three failed attempts to overthrow the government of El Salvador, then quickly emerged as a celebrity flyer; and Harriet Quimby, the statuesque silent-film beauty who became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. And then there is Lincoln Beachey, perhaps the greatest aviator who ever lived, who dazzled crowds with an array of trademark twists and dives—and best embodied the romance with death that fueled so many of aviation’s earliest heroes. A dramatic story of unimaginable bravery in the air and brutal competition on the ground, Birdmen is at once a thrill ride through flight’s wild early years and a surprising look at the personal clash that fueled America’s race to the skies. Praise for Birdmen “A meticulously researched account of the first few hectic, tangled years of aviation and the curious characters who pursued it . . . a worthy companion to Richard Holmes’s marvelous history of ballooning, Falling Upwards.”—Time “The daredevil scientists and engineers who forged the field of aeronautics spring vividly to life in Lawrence Goldstone’s history.”—Nature “The history of the development of an integral part of the modern world and a fascinating portrayal of how a group of men and women achieved a dream that had captivated humanity for centuries.”—The Christian Science Monitor “Captivating and wonderfully presented . . . a fine book about these rival pioneers.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] vivid story of invention, vendettas, derring-do, media hype and patent fights [with] modern resonance.”—Financial Times “A powerful story that contrasts soaring hopes with the anchors of ego and courtroom.”—Kirkus Reviews “A riveting narrative about the pioneering era of aeronautics in America and beyond . . . Goldstone raises questions of enduring importance regarding innovation and the indefinite exertion of control over ideas that go public.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Download or read book Pendulum II written by Jack Carpenter and published by Arsdalen Bosch. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smithsonian AIR & SPACE, Centennial Edition, 100 YEARS of FLIGHT, March, 2003, chose PENDULUM as one of only 14 books (of Hundreds of works) recommended to its readers. See: http://www.glennhcurtiss.com/id18.htm . Also, both PENDULUM and its authors WALDO: Pioneer Aviator are now offered at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC. PENDULUM IIThe Story of Americas Three Aviation Pioneers: Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and Glenn Curtiss, The Henry Ford of Aviation - IncludingHow The Partnership of Alexander Graham Bell and Glenn Hammond Curtiss Led to the Founding of The American Aviation Industry.In this, the 100th YEAR of FLIGHT, Jack Carpenters acclaimed 1992 PENDULUM - the only book telling a multi-sided story - was among the select few recommended by the Smithsonians AIR & SPACE Centennial Edition, March, 2003. This sold-out best-seller is the foundation for PENDULUM II with its amazing, never-before-told story of one of the most important but least known chapters in American history.Improved and 25% larger - in its 520 archival-quality pages PENDULUM II tells the whole story with all the players in this epic tale of flights beginnings. You will read in this unique chronologically and interwoven story and view in its hundreds of archival photographs and exhibits - what actually happened with the Wrights, Glenn Curtiss including Alexander Graham Bells hitherto unknown pivotal role - with Henry Ford, Tom Edison, Octave Chanute and many others on the sidelines. The result of over two decades research and a 135-work selected bibliography, PENDULUM II focuses upon (1), a semi-secret Agreement made between the Smithsonian and Orville Wrights heirs, and (2), a volcanic, historically important letter written by Gilbert M. Grosvenor, National Geographics chairman (and Bells great-grandson), to the author - which changes everything. Nowhere else are the facts - hidden for almost a century - of this so misunderstood and misstated story revealed as in PENDULUM II. Comment:The Wrights and Curtiss were innovators by nature, with strikingly similar parsonage upbringing, education and backgrounds.On 17Dec1903, Wilbur (not Orville) Wright was first to fly in wing-warping-controlled flight.For all intents and purposes, in 1905 the Wrights stopped inventing while attempting (emulating Bell''s experience) to create a worldwide Air Trust monopoly.The Wrights first offered their invention (in writing) to a foreign country (Britain) and made their first contract with a foreign country (France; March, 1908).Arguably fewer than fifty people between 1903 and 1908 had seen the Wrights fly; their extreme secrecy kept America (and the world) ignorant of flight.On 1October1907, Glenn Curtiss (Americas top manufacturer of record-breaking motorcycles) joined the Aerial Experiment Association partnering with Alexander Graham Bell, Tom Selfridge, John McCurdy and Frederick Baldwin to get into the air.On July 4, 1908, in the first publicly advertised flight in America, Curtiss flies the A.E.A.s aileron-controlled, V8-powered June Bug before a crowd of notables and spectators.Two months later, on September 3rd, Orville Wright makes his first public flight.In August, 1909, while Orville Wright was negotiating in Berlin, Curtiss was the sole American at the world''s first air-meet at Reims, France (he beat Bleriot to win the coveted Gordon Bennett Cup). And a few months later (Oct1909), when Wilbur was teaching America''s first military aviators, Orville was in Berlin teaching some of Germanys first pilots and giving the Kaisers son his first flight.Curtiss awarded American F.A.I. Aviator License No. 1, the Wrights Nos. 4 & 5. In Europe Curtiss was No. 2 (Bleriot No. 1), the Wrights Nos. 14 and 15.In 1914, at North Island, the Armys only flight school, 8-of-14 Wright-trained pilots were killed. A design disaster and too often a killer 1915 saw the last Wright aeroplane.Octave Chanute and George Spratt, described by Orville as "our most intimate associates in those early years," along with most in aviation then, became their enemies.Bell, Tom Baldwin, McCurdy, Post, Chambers, Ellyson, Hunsaker, Robinson, Towers, Manly, Richardson, Verville...were lifelong friends of Curtiss.In WW1 Curtisss Buffalo, NY, aircraft factory was the largest in the world. In 1929, Curtiss, Americas largest (and oldest) aircraft manufacturer, merges with Wright (primarily then an engine manufacturer). In WW2 Curtiss-Wright was Americas No. 2 defense contractor (GM-1, Ford-3).