The twentieth century has been one of staggering technological progress, not least in the field of public transportation. Perhaps the most spectacular advance has been made in the development of the aeroplane, bearing in mind that powered controlled flight was achieved only in the opening years of the century.
Aircraft manufacturers in Europe and the United States are now consulting with airlines about designs which will carry more than 600 passengers at speed and in comfort and it has already been possible for more than twenty years for passengers to fly across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound. To reach this point however, much courageous endeavour was required. This book records the milestones of the first fifty years of air transport from its beginning in 1919.
Represented in this collection are those aircraft that have significantly contributed to the overall development of commercial aviation, not only from a technical viewpoint, but also as glimpses of the histories of the pioneering airlines that were the trail-blazers in a form of transport that is now so much part of ordinary life. The author, aviation journalist John Cook, has drawn on his knowledge of the many companies that forged the modern air transport industry to produce this informative and comprehensive addition to The Archive Photographs Series.