One of the greatest industrial feats of World War II — indeed of all time — was the massive production of military aircraft by American manufacturers. America's sudden entry into the war required its typically small aircraft "job shops" to convert quickly to assembly-line techniques to meet the urgent demand for fighters and bombers. In many ways, Allied victory depended on the success of this conversion. How Americans heroically met the challenge is the focus of this fascinating pictorial history. Over 250 rare photographs — most never published before — comprise an eye-filling chronicle of men and women hard at work in a crucial wartime industry: hooking up an engine, hanging a propeller, riveting the "skin" on a fuselage and performing many other tasks. Also included are authentic, on-the-spot photographs of aircraft assembly lines in full swing, of teams of workers turning out Boeing B-17 bombers in Seattle, huge B-24D "Liberators" at the Ford plant in Willow Run, Michigan, and F6F Grumman "Hellcat" fighters in Bethpage, Long Island, New York. In his informative Introduction and captions, the author outlines the history of this massive effort, explains production processes and describes aircraft construction, assembly and armament. Throughout, he emphasizes important but often overlooked aspects of the story: how this struggle produced the first (and only) true mass production of military aircraft in history; introduced large numbers of women and minorities into the skilled work force; and inspired one of the greatest periods of high morale and camaraderie among workers ever seen. Aviation enthusiasts, World War II veterans and students of American history and sociology will find this a truly fascinating chapter in the American experience, superbly presented and carefully documented. Joshua Stoff is Air and Space Curator, Cradle of Aviation Museum, Mitchel Field, Long Island, New York.

Picture History of World War II American Aircraft Production (Dover Books on Transportation)

History

Stoff, Joshua

Americas

Dover Publications

Extensive pictorial anthology chronicles extraordinary career of the man who changed aviation history. Over 250 rare photographs, accompanied by detailed captions depict Lindbergh in childhood photos, shots of his "barnstorming" days, views of the young pilot examining damage to his Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" after crashing in 1923, and touring with the Spirit of St. Louis.

Charles A. Lindbergh: The Life of the "Lone Eagle" in Photographs (Dover Transportation)

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Antiques & Collectibles

Excellent pictorial history lavishly chronicles exciting saga of first fliers and their machines. Carefully researched text and over 250 photographs introduce such early pioneers of flight as Otto Lilienthal, Samuel Langley, Octave Chanute, Louis Bleriot, the Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and many others.

Picture History of Early Aviation, 1903-1913

For many, the names Washington Donaldson, Walter Wellman, J. C. Woods, and G. H. Scott do not automatically ring a bell in connection with the history of transatlantic flight. Yet these and scores of other brave men and women successfully challenged the Atlantic in heroic flights before Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and “Wrong-way” Corrigan. This profusely illustrated volume records the exciting saga of those daring and sometimes reckless adventurers who battled storms, darkness, and high winds in fragile aircraft to pave the way for aviators who would eventually conquer the ocean and fly directly from North America to Europe and beyond. Joshua Stoff, Air and Space Curator of the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York, chronicles the dramatic events of the international race to make transatlantic flight a reality. Over 250 rare photographs — many previously unpublished — trace a host of flight attempts, including a number made in lighter-than-air balloons and in huge “flying boats” developed by the Curtiss Company and the U.S. Navy. Also documented here are Alcock and Brown’s difficult crossing from Newfoundland to Ireland in 1919, an around-the-world flight in 1924 by the U.S. Army’s “world cruisers” (which took five months, 22 days, and 72 stops!), Charles Lindbergh’s celebrated solo flight from New York to Paris in 1927, and Amelia Earhart’s ill-fated circumnavigation attempt in 1937. Extensive, well-researched captions accompany the photographs, completing a rich and thrilling pictorial history that promises to delight aviation buffs and readers fascinated by the history of flight.

Transatlantic Flight: A Picture History, 18731939 (Dover Transportation)

Curious about the first person to be born in an airplane, which American president was the first to fly, or who built the world's first helicopter? Answers to these and other aviation-related questions can be found in this fascinating, fact-filled book compiled by Joshua Stoff, Air and Space Curator of the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York. You'll find the answers to questions about virtually all "firsts" in the history of flight, including these puzzlers: Who was the first licensed American woman pilot? Where was America's first airport? Which was the world's first aircraft manufacturing company? Who was the first person killed in a powered aircraft? When was a satellite first repaired in space? . . . and many more Brimming with names, dates, and events that made aviation history, this handy reference will not only settle arguments between aviation buffs, but will also provide answers for journalists, students, and aerospace executives — and fascinating browsing for the general reader.

Aviation Firsts: 336 Questions and Answers (Dover Transportation)

Excellent pictorial history of famed aircraft and aviation memorabilia depicted in 90 rare photos and illustrations: replica of Lilienthal Glider (1894), the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, America's most famous WW I airplane; Republic's P-47 Thunderbolt (1945), Grumman's Mobile Lunar Laboratory (Molab, 1964), and many other planes, spacecraft, rockets and missiles. Extensive captions.

Historic Aircraft and Spacecraft in the Cradle of Aviation Museum

Military

During the first fifty years of American aviation, Long Island was at the center of aircraft innovation and flight. There were more aircraft manufacturers and airports located on Long Island than in any other part of the United States. Due to the extraordinarily high volume of air traffic, Long Island also led the country-if not the world-in aircraft crashes. Long Island Aircraft Crashes: 1909-1959 portrays the daring flights, accidents, and mishaps of pioneer pilots, and the conditions that contributed to many crashes. Long Island ultimately saw the earliest air-traffic control systems, airport lighting, aviation weather reports, paved runways, and professional flight schools. Long Island Aircraft Crashes: 1909-1959 contains captivating images from Mitchel Field and Roosevelt Field, the two most active airfields on Long Island. In addition to airfield activity, this book illustrates some of the first experimental flights over Hempstead Plains; military training at Hazelhurst Field; the L.W.F. Owl bomber (the largest landplane of its time); the world's first instrument-guided flight; and Amelia Earhart posing with the new Sperry Gyropilot.

Long Island Aircraft Crashes: 1909-1959 (NY) (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

In 1961, after the United States had acquired a total of fifteen minutes of spaceflight experience, President John F. Kennedy announced his plans for landing a man on the moon by 1970. The space race had begun. In 1962, after a strenuous competition, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation of Bethpage, Long Island, had won the contract to build the lunar module-the spacecraft that would take Americans to the moon. This was the first, and the only, vehicle designed to take humans from one world to another.
Although much has been written about the first men to set foot on the moon, those first hesitant steps would not have been possible without the efforts of the designers and technicians assigned to Project Apollo. Building Moonships: The Grumman Lunar Module tells the story of the people who built and tested the lunar modules that were deployed on missions as well as the modules that never saw the light of day. This is the first publication to chronicle the visual history of the design, construction, and launch of the lunar module-one of the most historic machines in all of human history.

Building Moonships: The Grumman Lunar Module (Images of America: New York)

Business & Money

Industries

Long Island is a natural airfield. The central area of Long Island’s Nassau County―known as the Hempstead Plains―is the only natural prairie east of the Allegheny Mountains. The island itself is ideally placed at the eastern edge of the United States, adjacent to its most populous city. In fact, nowhere else in America has so much aviation activity been confined to such a relatively small geographic area. The many record-setting and historic flights and the aviation companies that were developed here have helped place Long Island on the aviation map. Through one hundred years of aviation history, Long Island has been home to eighty airfields. From military airfields to seaplane bases and commercial airports, the island has had more airports than any other place of similar geographic proportion in America. Most have vanished without a trace, but a handful remains. Long Island Airports is the first book to document the pictorial history of these airports and airfields.

Long Island Airports (NY) (Images of America)

Constructed closer to Manhattan than the commercially unsuccessful Floyd Bennett Field, LaGuardia Airport was conceived in the mid-1930s as New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia realized the need for a great airport for one of the world’s great cities. Originally known as New York Municipal Airport, the popular airport soon had its name changed to recognize LaGuardia’s enormous contribution to the project. At the time of its opening in 1939, it was the largest and most advanced commercial airport in the world with terminals considered art deco masterpieces. Although a very large airport for the era in which it was built, by the late 1940s it was the world’s busiest airport and clearly too small for the increasing amount of air traffic. Through the years its runways were lengthened and facilities were improved to handle larger and faster aircraft. Still one of America’s busiest airports, LaGuardia has witnessed the steady progress of American commercial aviation, from flying boats to jetliners.

LaGuardia Airport (Images of Aviation: New York)

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Books by Stoff, Joshua