Texas Takes Wing

Texas Takes Wing
Author: Barbara Ganson
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2014-01-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 0292754086

Tracing the hundred-year history of aviation in Texas, aviator and historian Barbara Ganson brings to life the colorful personalities that shaped the phenomenally successful development of this industry in the state. Weaving stories and profiles of aviators, designers, manufacturers, and those in related services, Texas Takes Wing covers the major trends that propelled Texas to the forefront of the field. Covering institutions from San Antonio’s Randolph Air Force Base (the West Point of this branch of service) to Brownsville’s airport with its Pan American Airlines instrument flight school (which served as an international gateway to Latin America as early as the 1920s) to Houston’s Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control for the U.S. space program, the book provides an exhilarating timeline and engaging history of dozens of unsung pioneers as well as their more widely celebrated peers. Drawn from personal interviews as well as major archives and the collections of several commercial airlines, including American, Southwest, Braniff, Pan American Airways, and Continental, this sweeping history captures the story of powered flight in Texas since 1910. With its generally favorable flying weather, flat terrain, and wide open spaces, Texas has more airports than any other state and is often considered one of America’s most aviation-friendly places. Texas Takes Wing also explores the men and women who made the region pivotal in military training, aircraft manufacturing during wartime, general aviation, and air servicing of the agricultural industry. The result is a soaring history that will delight aviators and passengers alike.

The Human Tradition in Texas

The Human Tradition in Texas
Author: Ty Cashion
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780842029063

The rich and unique history of the 'Lone Star State' is presented in this new book through the lives of a variety of Texans who put a human face on the state's history. Biographical sketches of fifteen famous and little-known men and women of different colors, religions, and economic backgrounds offer new insight into the history of the state. Starting in the sixteenth century with Alvar N?Òez Cabeza de Vaca, the first European to make contact with Texas Indian tribes, and tracing Texas history to the late twentieth century with a final sketch of Gary Gaines, a high-school football coach, The Human Tradition in Texas brings the state's history to life by showing real people and the events and times in which they lived. Written by leading and rising scholars of Texas history, this book presents the major themes and periods in Texas history, including the settling of Anglo-Americans in the region, bringing an American democ-racy that supported slavery; the Civil War and Reconstruction; technologi-cal developments in the late nineteenth century, including railroads and irrigation for crops and livestock; Texas's transformation in the early twentieth century from a world of cotton and cattle to a world of paved streets, electricity and running water; the challenges to modernization faced by the state with the development of the oil industry, the growth in industrialization, and the increasing size of Texas's cities; the new age, with Texas taking leadership roles in the oil, aviation, and entertainment industries; and the expanding inclusiveness of Texas society, nowhere more complete than on the sports field-particularly the football field. A collection of accessible and entertaining essays on this vast, vibrant state, The Human Tradition in Texas is an excellent resource for courses in Texas history and the history of the American West.

Barnstormers, Wing-Walking and Flying Circuses

Barnstormers, Wing-Walking and Flying Circuses
Author: Peter C. Brown
Publisher: Air World
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2022-04-21
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1526794195

While large numbers of aeroplanes had been produced In America for the war effort overseas at the Western Front, it was found that that the British, French and Germans were far ahead of them when it came to flight technology, which led to a huge surplus of aeroplanes in the United States. The government’s solution to recover some of the money was to sell the surplus stock off for as little as $200 dollars each. With no licence being required to fly a plane, the offer attracted many ex-fighter pilots as well as civilians, who developed a new American pastime known as barnstorming. Part entertainers, part thrill-seekers, the barnstormers made their way across the country as solo acts and in groups called 'Flying Circuses'. The American flier Ormer Locklear wowed the crowds by climbing out of his aeroplane and walk along the wing, and it wasn’t long before flying circuses held less appeal for spectators if it didn’t have a wing-walking act. Handstands, jumps across planes, and even the odd game of tennis were attempted by barnstormers to attract larger paying audiences. In 1936, the US Government banned wing-walking under 1,500 ft, which doomed aerial stunting, and while a few wing-walking teams operated in the 1970s, it wasn’t until barnstormer Vic Norman founded his famous AeroSuperBatics wing-walking team in the early 1980s that the sight of daredevils hand-standing and flying upside down on the wing was seen in Europe. Several teams around the world subsequently formed using aeroplanes such as the Boeing Stearman or the Curtiss 'Jenny' biplanes to wow crowds as a part of regular air displays, and their appeal has continued to rise since the 2000s.

King of the Air

King of the Air
Author: Ann Blainey
Publisher: Black Inc.
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1743820712

A revealing portrait of a brilliant and troubled figure – a daredevil of the sky Charles Kingsford Smith was the most commanding flyer of the golden age of aviation. In three short years, he broke records with his astounding and daring voyages: the first trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia, the first circumnavigation around the equator, the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland. He did it all with such courage, modesty and charm that Australia and the world fell in love with him. He became a national hero, ‘Our Smithy’. Yet his achievements belied a traumatic past. He had witnessed the horror of World War I – first as a soldier at Gallipoli, later as a combat pilot with the Royal Flying Corps – and, like so many of his generation, he bore physical and emotional scars. The public saw the derring-do; only those close to him knew the anxious man who pushed himself to the edge of health and sanity. In November 1935, Kingsford Smith’s plane crashed and he was lost at sea near Burma, his body never to be recovered. This brilliant work from one of Australia’s foremost biographers reveals the complicated, tumultuous life of a fascinating figure, who pursued his obsession to the greatest heights of fame and catastrophe Ann Blainey is the author of the acclaimed I Am Melba, which won the 2009 National Biography Award and was the most popular book in the 2009 State Library of Victoria Summer Reads program. Her other books include biographies of Leigh Hunt and the Kemble sisters. ‘Brilliant ... Blainey’s fascinating book focuses on the inner as well as the outer man. While Smithy’s career highlights may be well known, his ambiguous relationship with fame, his drinking, and his doubts and fears were not. In this beautifully written, scrupulously researched and meticulously indexed work, Blainey has filled this gap to perfection.’ —Ross Fitzgerald, The Weekend Australian 'Crisply written ... Even people not particularly interested in the feats of aviators will find this book an engrossing read.' —Jim Davidson, The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Blainey is a pleasure to read and this biography is superbly researched’ —Michael McGirr, Australian Book Review

Golden Images

Golden Images
Author: Eve Golden
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2015-11-13
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0786483547

This work contains 41 engaging essays on players of the silent screen, from superstars like Rudolph Valentino and Clara Bow to fascinating figures like Clarine Seymour and Arthur Johnson. These stories range from the tragic (early deaths, drug problems, talkie-related career failures) to the triumphant (a surprising number of silent stars enjoyed long, happy lives). Many of these personalities have never before been covered in depth, and their careers highlight the entire silent era, from its beginnings in the 1890s to its demise in the late 1920s. These essays, earlier versions of which were published in Classic Images, have been completely reedited and rewritten, reflecting information later made available to the author.

The Spectacle of Flight

The Spectacle of Flight
Author: Robert Wohl
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9780300106923

From historian Wohl comes an extraordinary account of the development of aviation and the heroism, romance, adventure, and shattered dreams that followed. Archival photos.

The Thrill Makers

The Thrill Makers
Author: Jacob Smith
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2012-05-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520952367

Well before Evel Knievel or Hollywood stuntmen, reality television or the X Games, North America had a long tradition of stunt performance, of men (and some women) who sought media attention and popular fame with public feats of daring. Many of these feats—jumping off bridges, climbing steeples and buildings, swimming incredible distances, or doing tricks with wild animals—had their basis in the manual trades or in older entertainments like the circus. In The Thrill Makers, Jacob Smith shows how turn-of-the-century bridge jumpers, human flies, lion tamers, and stunt pilots first drew crowds to their spectacular displays of death-defying action before becoming a crucial, yet often invisible, component of Hollywood film stardom. Smith explains how these working-class stunt performers helped shape definitions of American manhood, and pioneered a form of modern media celebrity that now occupies an increasingly prominent place in our contemporary popular culture.

From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun

From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun
Author: Michael Paris
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1995
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780719040740

The cinema and aviation developed alongside each other, and were both products of the technology and imagination of the early 20th century. This book examines the ways in which aeroplanes and flying have been portrayed in the many different genres within popular cinema, from Hollywood epics to comedy spoofs to modern tragedies. It covers over 500 American and British films, including, The Dambusters, The High and the Mighty, Airplane, Top Gun and The Shadowmakers.

Embattled Dreams

Embattled Dreams
Author: Kevin Starr
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2002-05-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 019992368X

The sixth volume in one of the great ongoing works of American cultural history--Kevin Starr's monumental Americans and the California Dream--Embattled Dreams is a peerless work of cultural history following California in the years surrounding World War II. During the 1940s California ascended to a new, more powerful role in the nation. Starr describes the vast expansion of the war industry and California's role as the "arsenal of democracy" (especially the significant part women played in the aviation industry). He examines the politics of the state: Earl Warren as the dominant political figure, the anti-Communist movement and "red baiting," and the early career of Richard Nixon. He also looks at culture, ranging from Hollywood to the counterculture, to film noir and detective stories. And he illuminates the harassment of Japanese immigrants and the shameful treatment of other minorities, especially Hispanics and blacks. In Embattled Dreams, Starr again provides a spellbinding account of the Golden State, narrating California's transformation from a regional power to a dominant economic, social, and cultural force. "With a novelist's eye for the telling detail, and a historian's grasp of the sweep of grand events.... [Starr's] got it all down.... I read the book with absorbed admiration."--Herman Wouk, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War "The scope of Starr's scholarship is breathtaking."--Atlantic Monthly "A magnificent accomplishment."--Los Angeles Times Book Review "Brilliant and epic social and cultural history."--Business Week "Ebullient, nuanced, interdisciplinary history of the grandest kind."--San Francisco Chronicle