The mastery of the air · Chapter 1The Mastery of the Air
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PREFACE THE MASTERY OF THE AIR PART I. BALLOONS AND AIR-SHIPS CHAPTER I. Man's Duel with Nature CHAPTER II. The French Paper-maker who Invented the Balloon CHAPTER III. The First Man to Ascend in a Balloon CHAPTER IV. The First Balloon Ascent in England CHAPTER V. The Father of British Aeronauts CHAPTER VI. The Parachute CHAPTER VII. Some British Inventors of Air-ships CHAPTER VIII. The First Attempts to Steer a Balloon CHAPTER IX. The Strange Career of Count Zeppelin CHAPTER X. A Zeppelin Air-ship and its Construction CHAPTER XI. The Semi-rigid Air-ship CHAPTER XII. A Non-rigid Balloon CHAPTER XIII. The Zeppelin and Gotha Raids PART II. AEROPLANES AND AIRMEN CHAPTER XIV. Early Attempts in Aviation CHAPTER XV. A Pioneer in Aviation CHAPTER XVI. The "Human Birds" CHAPTER XVII. The Aeroplane and the Bird CHAPTER XVIII. A Great British Inventor of Aeroplanes CHAPTER XIX. The Wright Brothers and their Secret Experiments CHAPTER XX. The Internal-combustion Engine CHAPTER XXI. The Internal-combustion Engine(Cont.) CHAPTER XXII. The Aeroplane Engine CHAPTER XXIII. A Famous British Inventor of Aviation Engines CHAPTER XXIV. The Wright Biplane (Camber of Planes) CHAPTER XXV. The Wright Biplane (Cont.) CHAPTER XXVI. How the Wrights launched their Biplane CHAPTER XXVII. The First Man to Fly in Europe CHAPTER XXVIII. M. Bleriot and the Monoplane CHAPTER XXIX. Henri Farman and the Voisin Biplane CHAPTER XXX. A Famous British Inventor CHAPTER XXXI. The Romance of a Cowboy Aeronaut CHAPTER XXXII. Three Historic Flights CHAPTER XXXIII. Three Historic Flights (Cont.) CHAPTER XXXIV. The Hydroplane and Air-boat CHAPTER XXXV. A Famous British Inventor of the Water-plane CHAPTER XXXVI. Sea-planes for Warfare CHAPTER XXXVII. The First Man to Fly in Britain CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service CHAPTER XXXIX. Aeroplanes in the Great War CHAPTER XL. The Atmosphere and the Barometer CHAPTER XLI. How an Airman Knows what Height he Reaches CHAPTER XLII. How an Airman finds his Way CHAPTER XLIII. The First Airman to Fly Upside Down CHAPTER XLIV. The First Englishman to Fly Upside Down CHAPTER XLV. Accidents and their Cause CHAPTER XLVI. Accidents and their Cause (Cont.) CHAPTER XLVII. Accidents and their Cause (Cont.) CHAPTER XLVIII. Some Technical Terms used by Aviators CHAPTER XLIX. The Future in the Air
This book makes no pretence of going minutely into the technical and scientific sides of human flight: rather does it deal mainly with the real achievements of pioneers who have helped to make aviation what it is to-day.
My chief object has been to arouse among my readers an intelligent interest in the art of flight, and, profiting by friendly criticism of several of my former works, I imagine that this is best obtained by setting forth the romance of triumph in the realms of an element which has defied man for untold centuries, rather than to give a mass of scientific principles which appeal to no one but the expert.
So rapid is the present development of aviation that it is difficult to keep abreast with the times. What is new to-day becomes old to-morrow. The Great War has given a tremendous impetus to the strife between the warring nations for the mastery of the air, and one can but give a rough and general impression of the achievements of naval and military airmen on the various fronts.
Finally, I have tried to bring home the fact that the fascinating progress of aviation should not be confined entirely to the airman and constructor of air-craft; in short, this progress is not a record of events in which the mass of the nation have little personal concern, but of a movement in which each one of us may take an active and intelligent part.
I have to thank various aviation firms, airmen, and others who have kindly come to my assistance, either with the help of valuable information or by the loan of photographs. In particular, my thanks are due to the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service for permission to reproduce illustrations from their two publications on the work and training of their respective corps; to the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain; to Messrs. C. G. Spencer & Sons, Highbury; The Sopwith Aviation Company, Ltd.; Messrs. A. V. Roe & Co., Ltd.; The Gnome Engine Company; The Green Engine Company; Mr. A. G. Gross (Geographia, Ltd.); and M. Bleriot; for an exposition of the internal-combustion engine I have drawn on Mr. Horne's The Age of Machinery.
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