THE AIRPLANE

Knowledgeable, accessible history of heavier-than-air flight.

Aviation writer Spenser (co-author: 747, 2006, etc.)—former curator of the National Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Flight—presents a detailed but clear account of how humans solved the puzzle of air travel. Giving credit to the iconic Orville and Wilbur Wright while also discussing their predecessors and successors, he focuses on the intellectual underpinnings of heavier-than-air machines before taking readers on a tour that covers every part of an airplane: overall configuration, fuselage, wings, empennage, flight controls, flight deck, aero propulsion, landing gear, passenger cabin, safety systems. This organizational structure works well for the casual traveler who knows little about airplane parts. The author provides compelling mini-biographies of various dreamy inventors and daring pilots. He poses conundrums, such as one about the Wrights: “One might well wonder how two brothers from Ohio came to solve the horrendous unknowns of flight. How did they conjure into being, whole and working, something that had never existed on the face of the earth?” Spenser separates the myths about these and other air-travel pioneers from the facts, displaying his skills as the lucid explicator of a technical topic. The saga covers a lot of ground, geographically as well as in subject matter. The Wrights’ 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, for example, succeeded thanks to contributions from enthusiasts in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, France, Germany and Switzerland. As the narrative moves into the 21st century, the author refuses to join the naysayers who claim that airline travel is unpleasant today. Instead, Spenser hints of a grand future in the air for passengers with the patience to wait for new planes currently being manufactured.

A satisfying journey guided by an able pilot.