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 progress 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 Aëronautics, whose work has been most fruitful in the advancement of civil and military aëronautics 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 designed and built our great engines and airplanes, and the leaders of commercial aviation who have made air travel fast, safe, and economical. JIM RAY _Ottsville, Pennsylvania, 1945_ CONTENTS The Beginnings of American Aviation 6 Aviation in America in Its Early Days 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 First Transatlantic Flight 34 Men and Machines, World War I 36 The First Air Mail 38 Precision Bombing Is Born 40 The U. S. Navy’s First Aircraft Carrier 41 The First Flight Around the World 42 Air Progress 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 Douglas’ Dream Comes True 54 Safety in Flight 56 Luxury Airliners and Skysleepers Make Air Travel an Accepted Fact 58 Pan American Clippers Conquer Pacific Skies 60 Pan American Clipper Inaugurates America’s First Transatlantic Air Transport Service 62 Private Planes 64 Superchargers and Super-Airliners 65 Air Power for World War II 67 Naval Aviation, 1922-1935 68