The Story of American Aviation is a free, public domain eBook written and illustrated by Jim Ray. It follows the development of flying in America from Octave Chanute through the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser after World War II.
The author was known as a student of aviation and illustrator of aviation-related comic books. His color illustrations make this book appear similar to those in the “First Book of” series.
There is an amazing amount of information conveyed in the book. A small sampling of the topics covered include:
- Flying in mythology.
- Da Vinci’s fascination with flying.
- The Wright brothers.
- Wind tunnels.
- The four forces that control flying.
- Curtiss control system.
- How a four-cycle engine works.
- Air meets.
- Planes of WWI.
- Air mail planes.
- Aircraft carriers.
- Flights around the world.
- Airport beacons.
- The radial engine.
- Air transportation.
- The gyroscope.
- Luxury airliners.
- Private planes (detail on the Piper Cub).
- Aviation in WWII.
Insets illustrate concepts and provide more information. These illustrations can easily be used to make a very interesting notebook covering aviation history, or the basics of flight.
If you have a student of aviation of your own, he or she is going to love this one! And it is free!
Free eBook
Additional Resources
Flight Adventures Unit Study {Free}
Free download aimed at elementary students with hands-on activities!
Free Science Studies: Orville & Wilbur Wright
Part of our free science studies, this one looks at flight.
Unit Study on Flight {Free}
The history of flight from kites in China to space travel.
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