PART I

--THE EVOLUTION OF THE AEROPLANE

CHAP. PAGE I. THE PERIOD OF LEGEND 3

II. EARLY EXPERIMENTS 15

III. SIR GEORGE CAYLEY--THOMAS WALKER 43

IV. THE MIDDLE NINETEENTH CENTURY 56

V. WENHAM, LE BRIS, AND SOME OTHERS 71

VI. THE AGE OF THE GIANTS 83

VII. LILIENTHAL AND PILCHER 95

VIII. AMERICAN GLIDING EXPERIMENTS 107

IX. NOT PROVEN 121

X. SAMUEL PIERPOINT LANGLEY 133

XI. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS 145

XII. THE FIRST YEARS OF CONQUEST 176

XIII. FIRST FLIERS IN ENGLAND 188

XIV. RHEIMS, AND AFTER 199

XV. THE CHANNEL CROSSING 211

XVI. LONDON TO MANCHESTER 217

XVII. A SUMMARY--TO 1911 221

XVIII. A SUMMARY--TO 1914 233

XIX. THE WAR PERIOD--I 246

XX. THE WAR PERIOD--II 259

XXI. RECONSTRUCTION 264

XXII. 1919–1920 270

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