Images of Aviation

Name: Wings Over San Antonio
Brand: Mel Brown
SKU: 9780738508146
Price: 17.49 USD
Availability: InStock

The Images of Aviation American history book series celebrates the people, the aircraft, and the events that define American aviation history. Touch down at the Los Angeles International Airport or explore the mysteries of Area 51. Step into space history with the Johnson Space Center, meet America’s founders in flight, from the Wright brothers to Glenn H. Curtiss, or join the Pan Am crew as the company made flight history. From Edwards Air Force Base to Kansas City’s B-25 Factory, these aviation books take readers to new heights. [View all Images of Aviation Books]

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Wings Over San Antonio

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Pearson Field:

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Aviation in Southern Oregon

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Quad City International Airport

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Detroit Metro Airport

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Alabama Aviation

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Catalina by Air

$21.99 $17.49 Save 20%

Cleveland's Legacy of Flight

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Grand Central Air Terminal

$21.99 $17.49 Save 20%

Early Aviation in Long Beach

$21.99 $17.49 Save 20%

Bowman Field

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Indianola

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Washington Dulles International Airport

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Aviation in Roanoke

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Delaware Aviation

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Dallas Aviation

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St. Louis Aviation

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Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

South Plains Army Airfield

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Alaska's Bush Pilots

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Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic

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Morristown Municipal Airport

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Springfield Aviation

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South Dakota's First Century of Flight

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San Diego's North Island

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Wings Over San Antonio

9780738508146

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In March 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois was ordered to Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas, with a used Wright Brothers aeroplane and a small contingent of enlisted men. His mission was to teach himself how to operate this primitive flying machine and begin demonstrating the practical uses it might have for the United States Army. This history is chronicled through in-depth captions and over 200 images as author Mel Brown tells the story of how San Antonio eventually became the cradle of military aviation. Mastery of the air would take time, equipment, and lives as the demanding flight path led from the early trials at Ft. Sam to the eventual establishment of four flying centers around the city. Working through trial and error, the aeronautic pioneers and first combat aviators convinced the military that the building of an American air arm was needed; thus the legend of the U.S. Air Force at San Antonio was born. Using many photographs never before published, the author tells the rich history of the air force bases in San Antonio, including Kelly, Brooks, and Randolph Fields. Also included are images of some of aviation's first heroes, such as Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and Clair Chennault.

Pearson Field:

9780738531298

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Pearson Field, part of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, is one of the oldest continually operating airfields in the United States. From the first arrival of an airship in 1905 and the flying of a plane off the Multnomah Hotel in 1912, Pearson has achieved numerous aviation milestones. The first official interstate airmail landed here in 1912, and during World War I it was the site of the world's largest spruce mill. Pearson was selected to serve as Portland's first airmail terminal, and two of America's most notable women pilots--Dorothy Hester and Edith Foltz--first took to the skies from the bustling Vancouver field. Pearson was also in the world spotlight when the 1937 Soviet transpolar flight landed in 1937. After 100 years, Pearson continues to serve as one of the region's preeminent general aviation centers.

Aviation in Southern Oregon

9780738581910

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Medford, Oregon, pioneered aviation in Southern Oregon and has long enjoyed a reputation for being an air-minded city. When the City of Medford built Newell Barber Field in 1920, it established the first municipally owned airfield in the state. In 1926, Pacific Air Transport selected Medford as a station for the West Coast airmail route. While Portland's airmail service was located across the river at Vancouver's Pearson Field in Washington, Medford's Newell Barber Field was Oregon's only airmail stop. The 1920s secured Medford's position as a leader in the growth of both civil and commercial aviation. When technology rendered the original field obsolete, the voters handily approved a new, state-of-the-art field that has continued to expand and grow into a major international airport and free trade zone, capable of accommodating some of the world's largest aircrafts.

Quad City International Airport

9780738583716

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In 1922, three men were so captivated with flying they leased 30 acres of cow pasture south of Moline to serve as a landing field. Other early aviators and barnstormers began using Franing Field, and it soon became known as Moline Airport. The field hosted the Ford Reliability Tour four times, served as part of the original New York to Dallas airmail route, had passenger service as early as 1927, became one of Illinois's largest Works Progress Administration projects, weathered financial struggles and a battle with neighboring Davenport, Iowa, over which community would possess the area's commercial airport, and has enjoyed constant growth and updates for both airline and general aviation traffic. This collection of historical photographs and images will present the people, planes, events, and development of that former pastureland into today's modern Quad City International Airport, the third largest airport for passenger traffic in the state of Illinois.

Detroit Metro Airport

9780738588513

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Throughout the years, Detroit Metro Airport has grown and changed with the times. During the golden age of flight, the airport served the local community by providing transportation and employment. In World War II, Romulus Army Air Field served the military by transporting B-24 Liberator bombers to the East Coast. It was also a transfer base for P-39 Airacobras and P-63 Kingcobras to be flown to the Soviet Union via Great Falls, Montana, and Alaska. The war ended, and the airport became a civilian operation again, with the Air National Guard maintaining a presence. During the Cold War, the airport saw the presence of nuclear weapons, but by the end of 1971 the weapons and the Air National Guard were gone. Constant upgrades in technology for safety and security make the passenger experience as pleasant and exciting as possible.

Alabama Aviation

9781467127554

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

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.

Catalina by Air

9780738559360

$21.99 $17.49 Save 20%

For years, reaching the paradise destination of Santa Catalina Island, located miles out in the Pacific Ocean, was possible primarily by steamship. But as early as 1912, the first amphibious airplane landed in Avalon Bay, and the first air-passenger service was introduced in 1919. Seaplane service thrived on Catalina, and aircraft engine roars became a distinctive memory for many residents, along with the thrill of crossing the channel by plane and landing on the water. The "Airport in the Sky" opened in 1946, with United Airlines operating DC-3s, followed by other airlines operating land-based planes. Today helicopters carry passengers across the San Pedro Channel in less than 15 minutes. This unique photographic history covers public air transportation to and from Southern California's iconic island, featuring memories and stories from residents, visitors, and airline employees.

Cleveland's Legacy of Flight

9780738551777

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Since the dream of flight was finally realized by two Ohioans, Wilbur and Orville Wright, it is little wonder that Greater Clevelanders were quick to embrace it. From the August day in 1910 when Glenn Curtiss flew from Euclid Beach Park to Cedar Point, aviation has had a strong following in Cleveland. World War I saw the dawn of aircraft production in the city, and the 1920s brought the world-renowned Cleveland National Air Races. Cleveland industry supported aviation in many different ways, and multiple airports, many now long gone, promoted business aviation and flight training for decades. During World War II, Cleveland was a center of war production, and much of this was aviation related. Subsequently, renovations of the Cleveland Municipal Airport created Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. A scene of thriving airline operations to this day, Cleveland's business community was quick to appreciate the advantages of corporate aviation, which remains a daily feature of Cleveland's aviation life.

Grand Central Air Terminal

9780738546827

$21.99 $17.49 Save 20%

From 1923, when it was known as the Glendale Airport, to the World War II era, when the military took it over, Grand Central Air Terminal was the main commercial airport serving Southern California and the ancestral home of what became Convair (General Dynamics) and Hughes Aircraft. The first scheduled transcontinental passenger service was flown out of Grand Central by Charles Lindbergh, with Amelia Earhart among the passengers. Grand Central had the first paved runway west of the Rocky Mountains, and was a terminal for Pickwick, TWA, American, and Pan Am's Mexican subsidiary. After Pearl Harbor, commercial operations ceased and the Army Air Corps turned Grand Central into a training center and a key element in the air defenses for Los Angeles when a Japanese invasion seemed imminent.

Early Aviation in Long Beach

9780738570839

$21.99 $17.49 Save 20%

By 1920, when Amelia Earhart attended Earl S. Daugherty's air circus and then took her first airplane ride with Long Beach Poly High School graduate Frank Hawks, Long Beach was already a key part of the golden age of aviation. Balloonists had parachuted onto the city's beaches in 1905 near the Pine Avenue Pier, and stunt pilots such as Frank Stites took off and landed on its sands in 1908. The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce sponsored the altitude contest won by Arch Hoxsey in the second Los Angeles Air Meet in 1910. Cal Rodgers ended the first transcontinental flight in the water near Linden Avenue on December 10, 1911. A former Army Air Corps flight instructor, Earl Daugherty was known as the "greatest stunt pilot" and owned the area's first non-beach airfield. This volume offers glimpses of early aviation at one of its core development locales, including photographs never before published of Earhart's flight instructor, John G. Montijo.

Bowman Field

9781467126991

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Louisville's Bowman Field is Kentucky's oldest continuously operating airport and one of the oldest in the United States. Abram Hite Bowman, Robert "Bob" Gast, and Wallace Sidney Park are considered the founders of Bowman Field, which dates to 1920. John Bennett, Frank Holzaphel, Dick Mulloy, and Wil Paris were among those who made the airport a success. Bowman Field was the landing place of Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis in 1927. It also hosted aviatrix Ruth Nichols, who, in 1931, ended a record-setting flight when her airplane caught fire. During World War II, the airfield was repurposed as the Bowman Army Airbase and a training facility for flight nurses. In 1957, Bowman Field was the nation's busiest local traffic airport. As we approach the airfield's centennial, the Bowman Field Administration Building, built in 1929, has been hardly touched by the hands of time. Bowman Field is the airport where the past meets the future.

Washington Dulles International Airport

9780738518473

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Washington Dulles International Airport is one of the three major airports that transports passengers into and out of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The beauty of the site is admired not only by millions who arrive and leave the area, but by local residents as well. After an extensive study of three separate locations in Virginia, Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower agreed to the Chantilly site and later chose to rename the world's first jet airport after his former secretary of state, John Foster Dulles. Renowned architect Eero Saarinen designed the magnificent building that serves as a gateway in and out of the United States. Today, the once peaceful farming area and small villages have turned into a fast-paced business world filled with thousands of new homes and residents.

Aviation in Roanoke

9781467121606

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In 1910, an awestruck crowd at the Roanoke Fair got its first glimpse of powered flight when a Curtiss biplane soared overhead. Within the next decade, gliders were lifting off from hills in South Roanoke and cow pastures were being converted into airstrips. Once Roanoke Municipal Airport was developed in 1929, earlier local airfields such as Cook, Trout, and Horton Fields were rendered inactive. Then in 1941, when--with federal assistance-- the municipal airport became Woodrum Field, the region's air travel transitioned into the modern era and brought services from major airlines to the area. Roanoke's aviation reputation continued to grow when the city played a critical role in military air travel and training during World War II, leading its airport to become one of the busiest on the East Coast. Aviation in Roanoke tells the stories of early airfields, the growth and transformation of Woodrum Field, and the adventures of Roanoke's aviation pioneers.

Delaware Aviation

9781467121743

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

For such a small state, Delaware has a fascinating aviation history. Delaware counts aircraft from the smallest, like the 1910 Delaplane, to the largest, the USAF C-5 Galaxy airlifter, among its rich variety. Numerous small grass airstrips dotted the state in the early years, serving as an incubator for aerial progress. The state has been a home to aircraft manufacturers, notable aviators, and aeronautical innovators and hosts military aviation units from the Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, the US Air Force, and the Air Force Reserve on two major bases. World War II brought the development of Dover Air Force Base, currently the largest aerial superport in the United States. This collection of historical photographs depicts the colorful people, the locales, the varied aircraft, and the milestone events that make up the history of aviation in Delaware.

Dallas Aviation

9780738579887

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Since Otto Brodie's airplane flight at Fair Park in 1910, the city of Dallas has seen over 100 years of rich and diverse aviation activity. Many of those years were spent on a long and complex road to a consolidated airport for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, an impasse finally resolved with the dedication of Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport in 1974. Central to Dallas aviation history is Love Field, established as a military base in 1917. A waypoint for famous flights such as the first round-the-world flight in 1924, a venue for colorful characters like barnstormer and bootlegger "Slats" Rodgers, and the site of World War II's largest Air Transport Command base--Love Field was all this and more. Although no longer the region's primary commercial airfield, Love Field remains a major aviation facility as the home of Southwest Airlines and several internationally recognized business aircraft operations.

St. Louis Aviation

9780738584102

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

For a little more than 60 years, from 1904 to 1967, St. Louis was considered the world's air capital for balloon racers, parachutists, airship aeronauts, air-traffic controllers, scheduled airlines, solo-flight adventurers, fighter pilots, and astronauts. At many times, the United States has led the world in aviation development and technology, and St. Louis was one of the biggest contributors with many aviation firsts. A U.S. president first flew in an aircraft here. St. Louis can arguably be credited with the world's first parachute jump, along with the world's first air-traffic controller. The city was the epicenter for international balloon racing, and of course most people know that the city was home to Charles Augustus Lindbergh. The Cold War and subsequent conflicts might have turned out quite differently if a St. Louis aircraft manufacturer had not existed. The world's largest airline may have never gotten off the ground if not for a U.S. mail contract that was awarded to a St. Louis company in the mid-1920s. This book provides a brief view of these firsts in aviation, as well as the development and impact of aviation in the city and beyond.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

9781467130400

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Encompassing 27 square miles, Dallas/Fort Worth International is one of the world's largest and busiest airports, accommodating more than 150,000 passengers each day. The 1974 opening of "D/FW" was preceded by nearly half a century of an often acrimonious aviation rivalry between Dallas and Fort Worth that featured a colorful cast of business leaders, municipal officials, and airline executives. Through its first 40 years, D/FW grew from a regional hub into a global crossroads for passenger and air cargo service. Bold, imaginative leadership sustained the airport through the failure of its largest tenant airline, the effects of 9/11, an air traffic controllers' strike, and more than one fuel crisis. An extraordinary economic engine for North Texas, D/FW stands poised to become home to the world's largest airline, validating the original planners' dream of a dynamic focal point for domestic and international commercial aviation.

South Plains Army Airfield

9781467131339

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South Plains Army Airfield in Lubbock, Texas, was a major training base for US Army Air Force glider pilots during World War II. Approximately 80 percent of the roughly 6,000 pilots trained to fly the combat cargo glider received their advanced training and were awarded their "G" Wings at SPAAF, as it was known. The base was conceived, built, used, and then closed in a short five-year period during World War II. Today, little remains to remind one of the feverish and important military training program that once took place on the flat, featureless South Plains of Texas. During World War II, American military strategy and tactics included a significant airborne component. Major invasions, such as D-Day at Normandy, were preceded by huge aerial fleets carrying paratroopers and their equipment. These airborne invasion fleets sometimes exceeded well over 1,000 Allied gliders. The American airborne forces depended upon an ungainly looking aircraft, the CG-4A glider, to carry the vehicles, munitions, and reinforcements needed to survive. The pilots who flew them learned their trade at South Plains Army Airfield.

Alaska's Bush Pilots

9781467131834

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

A thrilling ride alongside the daredevil aviators who first braved the unknown of Alaska's wilderness.

Bush pilots are known as rough, tough, resourceful people who fly their aircraft into tight spots in the worst of weather. Alaska's bush pilots are all of that and more. Acting as pioneers in a land with 43,000 miles of coastline and North America's largest mountains, Alaska's bush pilots were and are visionaries of a lifestyle of freedom. Flying came late to Alaska but caught on quickly. The first flight was made over a three-day exhibition at Fairbanks, July 3-5, 1913. James Martin first flew that aircraft, owned by him and his wife, Lilly, and investors Arthur Williams and R.S. McDonald. Ever since, Alaskan bush pilots have found that they were calculators of their own fate, flying in fragile aircraft over vast stretches of tundra or through towering mountain passes. This book examines the pioneer aviators and the aircraft types such as the Stearman, Stinson, and Lockheed, many of which were tested and crashed in the far north regions of Alaska.

Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic

9780738552965

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In 1972, two pilots--one a federal career engineer, the other the pastor of a prominent church in Washington, D.C.--discovered a common passion for flying airplanes and serving people. One day over lunch, the men conceived a flight plan, one that would undergo many changes before becoming Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic, as it is known today. Ed Boyer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Dr. Louis Evans, pastor of the National Presbyterian Church, discussed how to pool their interests and qualifications. From its beginnings as a charitable shuttle service for religious leaders and dignitaries, to full-scale charitable air ambulance operations, to Angel Flights for ambulatory patients, the initial vision has grown into a network of over 1,500 volunteer pilots in the Mid-Atlantic region who use their private planes to fly people in need to specialized treatment. Angel Flight coordinates missions of mercy from its offices in Virginia Beach, helping patients to find "the shortest distance between home and hope."

Morristown Municipal Airport

9780738573601

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

On July 8, 1929, a Morristown newspaper announced the opening of Morristown Airport on Bernardsville Road. The article stated the airport would be the home of the Country Aviation Club under the supervision of Clarence Chamberlin, the second man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and the first to take along a passenger. The Great Depression halted any serious development of the airport until 1936, when there was serious talk of the land becoming an East Coast dirigible base for the Hindenburg. However, the destruction of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey, a year later squashed those plans. After World War II, Morristown Airport began to become a reality. General aviation found Morristown convenient and out of the traffic patterns of Newark Airport. The airport grew and prospered, and by July 1966, Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU) was called the "VIP Stop." Today, as a general aviation reliever airport, MMU accepts private, corporate, air taxi, air ambulance, training, and military aircraft and ranks 11th in general aviation operations.

Springfield Aviation

9780738561592

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Citizens of Springfield first witnessed human flight, a balloon ascent, on July 5, 1858. In 1861, the capital city's most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln, then residing in the White House, authorized the creation of the first U.S. "air force," a balloon to observe Confederate troops. Springfield's interface with aviation has been a steady stream of hot-and-cold-running enthusiasm since airplanes began flying from the state fair racetrack infield about 1910. Springfield Aviation chronicles that flow and concludes with photographs from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in early 2008. It presents photographs of memorable airplanes, airships, and prominent aviators from the author's extensive collection, augmented by contributions from Springfield Airport Authority, Lincoln Library's Sangamon Valley Collection, and many others.

South Dakota's First Century of Flight

9780738584256

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The first aircraft heavier than air took to the skies in South Dakota in 1911. Since that time, pilots, mechanics, and dreamers have used aviation in innovative ways to shrink the large distances between the prairies and the mountains of the state. The start of the U.S. Space Program began at the Stratobowl in the 1930s and evolved into today's modern hot air balloons. People have used aircraft, not only for transportation, but also for controlling varmints, from grasshoppers to coyotes. Firefighters routinely use aircraft to put out forest fires, and many a tourist has seen Mount Rushmore from a helicopter. South Dakota has also served the military since World War II with the major bombers of the U.S. Air Force's arsenal. Perhaps best of all, South Dakotans enjoy flying for pure enjoyment.

San Diego's North Island

9780738547954

$21.99 $17.49 Save 20%

San Diego's North Island is one of the most significant venues of aviation in the world. Starting in 1911, it was the home to one of the nation's first aviation schools, founded by Glenn Curtiss, who pioneered seaplane flight. He trained the nucleus of America's future air forces there, including Lt. Theodore Ellyson, the first naval aviator. When the United States entered World War I, the government took over the island with plans to build a training center for the nation's armed forces. The new army base was named Rockwell Field, and the navy portion was named Naval Air Station San Diego. By 1937, the army had moved out, and the navy became the sole tenant. Today NAS North Island is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the navy and is headquarters for the Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.