Synopses & Reviews
Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first successful flight by a human being, What Were They Thinking? Is a fascinating-and often hilarious-look at attempts at fight in the centuries before. This will be a very crowded field in fall 03, as there will be a plethora of books published on the history of aviation. The advantage that this book will have is that it is a prehistory of aviation, effectively a history of failed attempts at flight. The introduction to the book looks at very early attempts at flight, from well-known legends such as Daedalus and Icarus, to lesser-known stories such as the Chinese Emperor Shun, the legendary English king Bladud, and the Italian, Giovanni Damian, who leapt from the battlements of a Scottish castle en route, supposedly, to France: he was saved from death by landing in the castle's dung heap. The book looks at Leonardo's designs for just about every kind of aircraft, and explores the physics behind his ideas. The bulk of the book concentrates on the weird and wonderful contraptions built in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, some bizarre, some stupid, and some that paved the way for the Wright brother and their followers. The question in the title serves two purposes, it asks "how weird is that" about these strange and brave inventions, but also asks "what were they thinking?" what was the science behind their ideas that convinced them that they could be the first human to fly.
Synopsis
Written by a writer for "Air and Space Magazine, The Wrong Stuff? will be published in association with the Smithsonian Institution, and is timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of manned flight. The book focuses on the centuries of magnificent failures--many of them hilariously bizarre--that preceded the Wright Brothers' triumph, as well as several that took place "after the first successful manned flight. Includes biographical sidebars on the various inventors.
Synopsis
The first book-length pictorial review of aviation history told through its most creative disasters, The Wrong Stuff? is published in association with the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Unlike other books on flight, the focus here is on the pre-history of flight.
The Wrong Stuff? includes biographical sidebars on the inventors, and contains over 300 archival images, including many never-before-published photos and illustrations. The book looks also at bizarre attempts at flight after the Wright brothers, giving an eye-catching new slant on the 100th anniversary of manned-flight.
Synopsis
The first book-length pictorial review of aviation history told through its most creative disasters, The Wrong Stuff? is published in association with the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. It is published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of manned-flight. The Wrong Stuff? is different from other books on flight, in that it focuses on the PRE-history of flight.
The Wrong Stuff? includes biographical sidebars on the inventors, and contains over 300 archival images, including many never-before-published photos and illustrations. The book looks also at bizarre attempts at flight after the Wright brothers, giving an eye-catching new slant on a major anniversary.
Synopsis
This pictorial history features illustrations, with aircraft specifications, from da Vinvi's great bird to the NASA/AMES expertimental one piece swivelling wing plane.
About the Author
Phil Scott lives and works in New York. He is a writer for Air and Space magazine, and is an internationally renowned expert on the history of flight. He is the author of The Shoulders of Giants (Perseus) and The Pioneers of Flight (Princeton University Press). He is the former managing editor of Flying and Omni, and he frequently writes for such magazines as Scientific American, New Scientist, Reader's Digest, the Chicago Tribune, and Cigar Aficionado.
Table of Contents
Da Vinci's great bird -- Henson's aerial steam carriage -- Le Bris albatross -- Alexander Mozhaiski's steam monoplane -- Clement Alder's Eole and Avion III -- Miller flying machine -- Phillips multiplane -- Maxim's kite -- Whitehead No. 21 -- Kress triple tandem seaplane -- Langley aerodrome -- Wright 1904 flyer -- Zerbe multiplane -- Bleriot no. V -- Alberto Santos-Dumont's 14 bis -- Vuia No. 1 -- Dorand Aeroplane -- Alexander Graham Bell's Cygnet -- d'Equevilley multiplane -- Givaudan -- Coanda Turbo-propulseur -- Sikorsky H-2 helicopter -- 1912 Aviette -- Fabre hydravion -- Pfitzner monoplane -- Vin Fiz flyer -- Petroczy-Karman-Zurovec PKZ-2 helicopter -- Curtiss autoplane -- Fokker Dr.1 -- Tarrant Tabor -- Caproni Ca. 60 -- Brunelli lifting bodies -- Pescara's helicopter -- Gerhardt cycleplane -- Maiwurm tilt wing -- Bleriot 125 -- Florine Tandem Rotor helicopter -- Gee Bee R-1 super sportster -- Herrick Vertoplane -- Supermarine nighthawk quadruplane -- XF-11 -- Budd Conestoga -- Custer Channel Wing -- Northrop N-1M Jeep and N-9M Flying Wing -- Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" -- Hafner Rotabuggy -- Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg -- Blohm und Voss Bv 141 -- Bristol type 167 Brabazon -- Northorp XP-56 -- Dornier Do 335 Pfiel -- Curtiss-Wright XP-55 -- Bachem Ba 348 Natter -- Northrop XP-79 -- Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka -- Horten Ho IX -- Hughes H-4 Hercules -- Bell RP-63A Kingcobra -- Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet -- McDonnel XP-85 Goblin -- Convair IF2Y-1 Sea Dart -- Ryan X-13 Vertijet -- Taylor Aerocar Model 1 -- Convair X-6 -- McDonnell F3H-1 Demon -- SNECMA VTOL -- Goodyear Inflatoplane -- Rogallo Wing -- Ryan XV-8A Fleep -- Convair XFY-1 Pogo -- Curtiss-Wright X-19 VTOL -- Rhein-Flugzeugbau Fantrainer 600 -- NASA/Ames AD-1.