In the following pages, Jim Ray, talented in his work of presentation and a conscientious student of aviation, presents a chain of highlights in the progress of American aeronautics. The work as a whole is directed toward a sound con­ception of the steps which have been taken in aircraft development. In so far as possible, with­out being exhaustive, Mr. Ray has portrayed the engineering advancement which underlies the structure of our swiftly developing air age. The reader who thoroughly digesta the text and illua­trationa of this book will find that it is an orderly and faithful guide. GILL ROBB WILSON .4t1ialio11 Eduor, Nftfl York Herald Tribune Director of .411iatlon Scare of New Jeney It is difficult to believe that, juat a little over thirty years ago, I was a high-school student watching the pilots at the Wright Brothers' ex­hibition of the world's first ftying machine. That machine weighed about eight hundred pounds. It, engine developed thirty horsepower. It ffew at the then astounding speed of forty-two milee an hour, which is equal to the landing speed of our sloweet light plane today. High-school stu­dents now are accustomed to the eight of giant airplanes whose weight ie measured in tone and whose horsepower mounts to the thousands. December, 1945, marks the forty-second an­niversary of the firat flight of an airplane. The progresa of aviation since that first ftight still 1eems unbelievable, even to one who has followed it! development closely. The purpose of this book is to trace the progre88 of aviation in America and to tell the story of the men and machines that have given this country supremacy in the air. In telling the story of American aviation from Kitty Hawk to the present day, I have been able to touch only the high spots in its dramatic prog­ress. Space limitations prevent me from giving personal credit to the hundreds of pioneer air­men, engineers, and mechanics who have con­tributed so greatly to the progree1 of American aviation. Lack of space also makes it impossible to give the complete story of the great Govern­ment research organization, the National Ad­visory Committee for Aeronautic,, whoee work hae been most fruitful in the advancement of civil and military aeronautics in the United States. As we look over the record of the astounding progress of American aviation in forty-two years, let us salute our military leaders who have visual­ized the need for air power; the men who have deejgned and built our great engines and air­planes, and the leaders of commercial aviation who have made air travel fast, safe, and eco­nomical. JIM RAT The Beginninge of American Aviation 6 Aviation in America in Its Early Daye 9 First Army Airplane 23 America Becomes Air-Minded 24 The Army and Navy Spread Their Wings 28 United States Military and Naval Aviation, World War I 32 The Fint Transatlantic Flight 34 Men and Machines, World War I 36 The First Air Mail 38 Precision Bombing la Born 40 The U. S. Navy's First Aircraft Carrier 41 The First Flight Around the World 42 Air P~ogre88 44 America's First All-Metal Transport 46 Better Power for America's Airplanes 49 Record-Making Fokker Tri-Motor Transport Plane 50 Air Transport Grows 52 Donald Douglae' Dream Comes True 54 Safety in Flight 56 Luxury Airlinen and Skysleepen Make Air Travel an Accepted Fact 58 Pan American Clippers Conquer Pacific Skies 60 Pan American Clipper Inaugurates America's First Tranaatlantic Air Transport Service 62 Private Planes 64 Superchargers and Super-Airliners 65 Air Power for World War II 67 Naval Aviation, 1922-1935 68 Shipboard Fighten 69 Battleship of the Air 70 Naval Aviation Gets Ready 72 The U. S. Navy's First Long-Range Flying Boats 74 Technical Progress in the U. S. Army Air Corps in the Thirties 76 Army Attack Aviation and Training 80 Superfighter 82 Man-Made Thunderbolt, Rip Wide a Path to Victory 84 Superf ortress 86 Naval Aviation in the Early Months of World War II The U.S. Navy's Deadlieet Fighter Plane