Books for the Aviator in Your Life

Join author and Huntsville native T. Gary Wicks as he uncovers the beginnings and inventions that influenced air and space engineering in Alabama and America.

The air age in Huntsville began more than a century ago with Will Quick's design and construction of a flying machine, which he demonstrated in 1908 for patenting and manufacture. The space age began in Huntsville a half century later with the advent of Wernher Von Braun's Redstone Jupiter C rocket, which launched America's first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit in 1958. A decade later, Huntsville was at the epicenter of the greatest technological achievement of the 20th century as the Saturn V rocket propelled humankind to the moon. Nowhere in the world is the century's rapid advance of air and space technology more apparent than in Huntsville. This unique evolution of flying machines and space vehicles unfolds in this pictorial documentary, including the dramatic growth of the research facilities and community infrastructure that produced these remarkable inventions.

From early aerial experimenters who devoted their lives to the development of a heavier-than-air flying machine to the massive expansion of military flight training during the Second World War, the story of aviation in Alabama represents a remarkable historical legacy. In March 1910, Orville and Wilbur Wright established the nation's first civilian flying school on the grounds of what would become Maxwell Air Force Base, the center for military aerospace education and airpower doctrine. The establishment of the Wright brothers' flying school represents the first of a series of extraordinary events that propelled Alabama to the forefront of the evolution of aviation as the foundation of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt's arsenal of democracy during the Second World War.

Author Billy J. Singleton sets readers on a captivating course through the history of Cotton State aviation.  From the dreamers who envisioned flight decades before the Wright Brothers achieved it at Kitty Hawk to the international space race, Alabama has been at the forefront of aviation. Delve into the obscure and forgotten stories of the state’s aeronautical heritage, including an encounter over Montgomery that initiated an investigation by the Air Force, Eleanor Roosevelt’s aerial tour of the Tuskegee Institute in a two-seat training aircraft and the miracle of Eastern Flight 002. Recall the lost squadron of Gunter Field, the Alabama pilot recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most experienced aviator in history and the college administration that constructed an airport to obtain a gymnasium.

Since the 1920s, Birmingham, Alabama, has played a vital role in the development of aviation in the Deep South and the nation. From aircraft construction to Air Guard activity, and from the evolution of commercial airlines to military training bases, Birmingham has contributed greatly to one of the most significant advancements of the twentieth century. Deep South Aviation explores the fascinating history of aviation in and around Birmingham through vintage images of the pilots,
aircraft, and aviation enthusiasts of years past. Included are photographs of the early airfields, the Alabama Air National Guard, and the Birmingham Naval Air Station. Culled from the archives of the Southern Museum of Flight, these captivating images tell a story that began with a few brave individuals who surmounted the sky. Photographs were also taken from Alvin W. Hudson's collections on Fairgrounds Air Shows, Roberts Field, and the Birmingham Municipal Airport; Cecil Greene's collection on the Alabama Air National Guard; and generous friends of the museum who donated from their private collections.

From early aerial experimenters who devoted their lives to the development of a heavier-than-air flying machine to the massive expansion of military flight training during the Second World War, the story of aviation in Alabama represents a remarkable historical legacy. In March 1910, Orville and Wilbur Wright established the nation's first civilian flying school on the grounds of what would become Maxwell Air Force Base, the center for military aerospace education and airpower doctrine. The establishment of the Wright brothers' flying school represents the first of a series of extraordinary events that propelled Alabama to the forefront of the evolution of aviation as the foundation of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt's arsenal of democracy during the Second World War.

Local businessman and inventor John Ellis Fowler introduced the concept of the flying machine to Mobile and South Alabama. Fowler's innovative designs mark the beginning of the remarkable aviation heritage of Alabama's port city, a legacy further enhanced by the evolution of military and civilian aviation on Alabama's Gulf Coast. A mild climate and abundance of flat terrain made the region attractive for the establishment of military flight training programs during the World War II while the availability of air, rail, and sea transportation made Mobile an ideal location for construction of a supply and repair depot to support military aviation in the Southeast. Images of Aviation: Mobile Aviation is the story of the first century of powered flight in Mobile and South Alabama.

The history of powered flight in Alabama began in February 1910 with the arrival of Wilbur Wright in the capital city of Montgomery. In search of a suitable location to establish a training camp for student aviators, Wright selected Montgomery as the site of the nation's first civilian pilot training school because of the region's short winters, mild climate, and flat farmland. The establishment of the Wright flying school marked the beginning of a remarkable aviation heritage in Montgomery, a legacy further enhanced by the arrival of military flight
training at Taylor Field less than a decade later. The same factors that attracted the Wrights to Montgomery made the area an ideal location for the military flight training programs that would produce more than 100,000 aviation cadets at Maxwell and Gunter Fields during the Second World War. From the
Wright brothers to the Air University at Maxwell Field, Images of Aviation: Montgomery Aviation is the story of the first century of powered flight in Alabama's capital city.