Transcriber's note: Text in italics has been marked with underscores (_text_). Further Transcriber's Notes will be found at the end of this text. THE ROMANCE OF AIRCRAFT [Illustration: _Copyright Underwood and Underwood_ SEAPLANES NC-1, NC-3 AND NC-4 OF THE U. S. NAVY STARTING THE TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHT FROM ROCKAWAY] [Illustration: _Copyright Underwood and Underwood_ THE NC-4 ON ITS VICTORIOUS TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHT, SIXTY MILES AT SEA. THE SHADOW IS MADE BY A STRUT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS' PLANE] THE ROMANCE OF AIRCRAFT BY LAURENCE YARD SMITH _WITH SIX DIAGRAMS AND THIRTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS_ LONDON GRANT RICHARDS, LTD. ST. MARTIN'S STREET MDCCCCXIX PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE PROSPECT PRESS CONTENTS PART I CHAPTER PAGE I THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR 3 II "A B C'S" OF A BALLOON 14 III EARLY BALLOON ADVENTURES 20 IV THE PARACHUTE 28 V BALLOONING IN THE GREAT WAR 36 PART II I DEVELOPMENT OF THE DIRIGIBLE 47 II FORERUNNERS OF THE ALLIED DIRIGIBLES 60 III DIRIGIBLES IN THE WORLD WAR 68 PART III I EARLY EXPERIMENTS WITH HEAVIER-THAN-AIR MACHINES 77 II FIRST PRINCIPLES OF AN AIRPLANE 91 III THE PIONEERS 99 IV THE AIRPLANE IN THE WORLD WAR 128 V SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THE INVENTORS HAD TO SOLVE 150 VI FAMOUS ALLIED AIRPLANES 170 VII GERMAN AIRPLANES IN THE WORLD WAR 189 VIII HEROES OF THE AIR 205 IX THE BIRTH OF AN AIRPLANE 223 X THE TRAINING OF AN AVIATOR 232 XI THE FUTURE STORY OF THE AIR 244 READING LIST 256 INDEX 259 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS