Virginia Aviation

by Roger Connor

Overview

Virginia has one of the oldest and richest aeronautical legacies in the country. Beginning with the use of balloons in the Civil War, the commonwealth was at the forefront of aerospace innovation, particularly in military aviation. Langley Field and Quantico were key development centers in the maturation of aerial warfare for the Army Air Service, its successors, and the Marine Corps. Norfolk witnessed the birth of the American carrier force and was on the front line in the Battle of the Atlantic. The state is also home to a legacy of civil and commercial activity. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laboratory at Langley Field established numerous foundational principles of modern aerodynamics, supported the development of many of the most significant aircraft of the 20th century, and paved the way for travel beyond Earth. Commercial airfields, including Richmond, Roanoke, and Washington's Hoover and National, were at the cutting edge of modern air travel and played host to aviation's elite. These images from local, state, and national archives—nearly all previously unpublished—depict a rich technological heritage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467122450
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	11/03/2014
Series:	Images of Aviation
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,109,141
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Roger Connor curates several aeronautical collections for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He is an experienced aviator with 4,000 hours logged as a flight instructor and commercial pilot.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 The Birth of Military Aviation 9

2 Coming of Age in the Great War 15

3 Feast and Famine in the Interwar Years 25

4 On the Front Lines in World War II 51

5 The Cold War and the Jet Age 65

6 Aerospace Innovation with the NACA and NASA 73

7 Famous Fliers in the Commonwealth 91

8 General Aviation and the Private Pilot 99

9 Commerce on the Airways 109