This book not only records the significant events of Canadian aviation but also pays tribute to the `forgotten flyers who flew by guess and by God or with calculating caution - for the sheer love of flying - in the early days.`
`Pioneers of the Air` recounts the first tentative experiments with that overgrown monster, the flying machine - at this stage, the glider. Next come the Barnstormers, the first professional airmen, trying desperately to wrest a living from the air, pioneering in the field of practical flying as little more than vaudeville performers. These were the days of daring aero-acrobatics and tense and crowded air-meets. The First World War saw a tremendous advance in technical manoeuvres and in pilot skill; the first aviation school was established in Toronto, where the War Birds learned to fly. An unparallelled boom in aviation followed the war. Public interest had been aroused by the celebrated achievement of Canada`s Air Force, and many young men, the restlessness of the war still in them, were obsessed by the itch to fly again. The Dollar-a-Minute days marked the beginning of passenger travel and a steady increase in experimental flying, to bear its practical fruit in days to come. The next chapter is one of heroic enterprise - the conquest of the Atlantic and the spanning of the Continent. No less epic is the history of the bush pilots who tamed the Canadian North. We must be grateful to Mr. Ellis for rescuing from obscurity this important chapter in our history.
Authors
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 629.13/0971
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 0802064175 9781442671706
- LCCN
- TL523
- LCCN Item number
- E4 1980eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- DLC
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xiv, 398 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00600759 (OCoLC)431544094 (CaOOCEL)417314
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- DLC
Table of Contents
- COVER 1
- CONTENTS 14
- 1 PIONEERS OF THE AIR, 1907-1914 16
- 1 Wings rise in the East 18
- 2 Alberta's flying saucer, 1907 33
- 3 Gibson's twin and multi-planes, 1910–1911 39
- 4 More wings in the West, 1909–1918 49
- 5 A close-up of two early birds 55
- 6 Brisk youths, 1907–1915 65
- 2 THE BARNSTORMERS, 1906-1914 70
- 7 Balloons and airships, 1906–1914 72
- 8 Airplane barnstorming begins, 1909–1910 78
- 9 The air meets of 1910 85
- 10 Exhibition flying, 1911 92
- 11 Billy Stark, Canadian barnstormer, 1912–1915 100
- 12 Noteworthy flights, 1912 105
- 13 The friendly invasion wanes, 1913–1914 115
- 3 THE WAR YEARS, 1914-1918 124
- 14 The war birds learn to fly 126
- 15 The Royal Flying Corps in Canada, 1917–1918 136
- 16 Other aviation highlights during World War I 147
- 4 THE DOLLAR-A-MINUTE DAYS, 1919-1920 158
- 17 Dollar-a-minute days in the East 160
- 18 Farmstorming days out West 169
- 19 Through the doldrums, 1921–1923 178
- 5 ANNIHILATING TIME AND SPACE, 1919-1926 184
- 20 Conquest of the Atlantic, 1919 186
- 21 Spanning the continent 195
- 22 Alaska, and round the world 204
- 6 NORTHWARD INTO THE BUSH AND SNOW 1919-1929 212
- 23 Bush and arctic flights, 1919–1929 214
- 24 Rene and Vic: and the Viking 220
- 25 Over the icefields 232
- 26 The bush pilot—and his engineer 245
- 27 Commercial flying hits its stride, 1924–1929 252
- 28 Planes to the rescue 268
- 7 FOR FAME AND FUN, 7927- 280
- 29 The death or glory road 282
- 30 A continent shrinks 302
- 31 Flying for fun 307
- 32 Youth at the controls 322
- 8 WINGS AT WORK, 1927- 328
- 33 The air-mail story 330
- 34 Wings on many missions 344
- 35 Retrospect and prospect 362
- APPENDIXES 374
- A: Outstanding events in Canadian aviation 376
- B: Noteworthy air-mail events in Canada to 1939 381
- C: McKee Trophy awards 383
- D: Webster trophy awards 389
- E: Full list of the graduate pupils of the Curtiss Aviation School, Toronto, during the entire period of its operation, 1915–16 392
- F: Known pupils connected with the Aero Club of British Columbia, to the end of 1915 394
- G: The Caterpillar Club 395
- H: Licensing of aircraft and personnel 396
- I: Museums 397
- J: Cairns and monuments 399
- INDEX 406
- A 406
- B 406
- C 407
- D 408
- E 409
- F 409
- G 409
- H 409
- I 410
- J 410
- K 410
- L 411
- M 411
- N 412
- O 412
- P 413
- Q 413
- R 413
- S 413
- T 414
- U 415
- V 415
- W 415
- Y 415
- Z 415
