Flight: 100 Years of Aviation

This book is a gem! Smithsonian did a wonderful job gathering all the photographs and facts about each and every airplane ever to grace the skies above. If you are an aviation buff or a pilot like me, you will appreciate having this book around.

I am 12 years old and I found this book to be very informative. Though it is written on an adult level, it is easy enough for a preteen to follow. It gives extensive history on planes from the birth of flight to the present. I highly recommend this book.

A really thorough, really good visual dictionary on flight.

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's "Flight: 100 Years of Aviation," by R.G. Grant and John R. Dailey LOOKS like a "coffee table book." It is SO much more than that - although at over 400 pages and approximately 1000 magnificent photographs, it certainly would fit the bill. It is worth every penny of it's cost.As the female Vice-President of two small aviation restoration companies, I collect a lot of aviation books. This is absolutely the BEST historical view on aviation. The information and photographs that it provides on early aviation are the best that I have seen. It features memorabilla as well as photos of aviation's many pilots/inventors. Almost all of the photographs were new to me and not simply the same photos shown in all the other books. Later models are glossed over a little more, but I imagine that the book would have been over 1000 pages if they had gone into much more detail. This book is meant to serve as an overview of aviation's history. Most aviation history books simply feature the planes. This book details so MUCH more. It discusses black boxes, ejection seats, posters, newspaper clippings and much more; truly giving a well-rounded view of aviation. If you are a pilot or simply interested in aviation - or if you know a young person who is interested in aviation....THIS is the book to buy them. The photographs ALONE are worth purchasing this book!

This is an amazing great big book. There are hundreds of big glossy books of planes and aviation history in bookstores, and with the 100 years of powered controlled flight anniversary, there will no doubt be a few more bowing the shelves. But if you want to buy just one, say for a present, then this is the one to buy. It is balanced, it is complete, it has pictures and text in harmony -- and it is not slapped together like some other slightly embarrassing flying tomes.Over 400 pages perfect for a youngster, yet written well enough for any adult. Is it perfect? No. But 400 pages of perfection would be hard. I would have put in RJ's rather than the F-28 in the current small airliner section, but complaining about a couple of details should not hide the fact that this is one big cool book. Whatever more detailed specialized books about flying you get later, you will not need to get a great big glossy exciting celebration of flight book again. You'll already have one of the best.