Today we think of all aircraft as having the same basic form, consisting of monoplane wings with engines attached and with fuselage and tail. But, it was not always so. In fact, man’s bid to emulate the birds and conquer the air resulted in a variety of machines, ranging from the weird to the wonderful to the fantastical and wildly inept. Here one can read of planes with wings that flapped; those that were stacked in several layers, piggyback fashion; and other that flew by steam or diesel power. Also featured is Howard Hughes’ 181 tonne Spruce Goose, produced at great expense to fly only once; the Junkers G38, in which six passengers were carried in two compartments in the leading edge of each wing, the remaining 22 accommodated on two levels in the fuselage. Then there are the elegant flying boats that transported the rich to exotic locations; the fearsome beasts produced to fight two World Wars; the flying wings and the flying automobiles – all of which are incredible in their own way. Many of these pioneer aircraft turned out to be highly innovative, setting the stage for future developments in the field of civil and military aviation.
