Chasing Icarus : the seventeen days in 1910 that forever changed American aviation

Format:

Book

Title:

Chasing Icarus : the seventeen days in 1910 that forever changed American aviation

Author:

Mortimer, Gavin.

ISBN:

9780802717115

Edition:

1st U.S. ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Walker & Co, 2009.

Physical Description:

305 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, plan ; 25 cm

Contents:

It's Europe or bust -- Let's stick by the ship -- A sort of bleeding to death -- Will launch lifeboats and trust to you -- We are in bad country and grave danger -- Progress slow and exhausting -- Wait until Orville comes -- An epoch-making event -- Tears started to our eyes -- A death trap -- Here are two men in a boat --Are you these gentlemen? -- There's always a chimney for a man to hang on to -- I'll be able to give the Wrights a good race -- I'm not hurt much but I want a long rest -- It isn't true, it can't be true! -- My disgust at this betrayal.

Summary:

By 1910, America and the world had been transfixed by the danger and challenge of mastering the air. "Chasing Icarus" captures both a pivotal moment in the history of aviation and the end of a gilded era that would soon be devastated by World War I. 24 b & w photographs.

Subject(s):

Aeronautics -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Flight -- History -- 20th century.

Geographic Term:

United States.

Genre:

History.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	629.1309 Mortimer, G. 2009	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

A dramatic chronicle of a pivotal moment in the history of aviation.

By 1910--seven years after the Wright brothers first lifted a plane off the ground at Kitty Hawk--America and the world were transfixed by the danger and challenge of mastering the air. Yet which form of flight would predominate was far from clear--dirigibles, balloons, and airplanes all had their passionate advocates. Emblematic of this uncertainty, the precursor of the U .S. Air Force owned one plane and two dirigibles.

During the seventeen days in October 1910 that Gavin Mortimer vividly recounts in Chasing Icarus , the question of primacy in the air was on full display, after which the future of aviation was never in doubt. The great dirigible America , captained by Walter Wellman, lifted off from New Jersey and for several turbulent days attempted to be the first flying machine to cross the Atlantic. From St. Louis, ballooning teams from around the world took off in pursuit of the Gordon Bennett I nternational Balloon Cup, given to the team that traveled the farthest distance, with a denouement featuring Americans Alan Hawley and Augustus Post that would stun the country. And at the famed racetrack at Belmont Park, New Y ork, huge crowds gathered to watch airplane pilots race above the oval and attempt to set speed, altitude, and distance records. Newspapers everywhere, even in the smallest of towns, made headlines of the results, and the public treated all aviators as matinee idols.

Interweaving the dramatic narratives of these three astonishing events, bringing to life powerful personalities (the ruthlessly competitive Wright brothers, the debonair Englishman Claude Grahame-White, the ultra-confident John Moisant), Gavin Mortimer reveals the pioneers of flight as fitting descendants of the legendary Icarus, risking all in pursuit of glory. Chasing Icarus captures both a pivotal moment in the history of aviation and the end of the gilded era that would soon descend into the devastation of World War I ; indeed, within four years dogfights over France had replaced air shows.

Author Notes

Gavin Mortimer is a journalist and writer. He lives in London.

Reviews (3)

Kirkus Review

Mortimer (The Great Swim, 2008, etc.) chronicles a pivotal moment in the history of aviation. Seven years after the Wright brothers' famed Kitty Hawk flight, it was unclear whether the future lay in dirigibles, balloons or airplanes. The author looks at three events in October 1910 that tested the mettle of each technology: Walter Wellman's attempt to fly the America from New Jersey to England; the competition among airplane fliers (the word "pilot" was not yet in use) for the International Aviation Cup, held in Long Island; and the contest to see which balloonist could travel the farthest distance from St. Louis, Mo. The America flew about 1,000 miles, the longest trip ever for a dirigible, before crashing into the Atlantic Ocean, and balloonists Alan Hawley and Augustus Post covered more than 1,200 miles from Missouri to the woods of Qubec. Above Belmont Park, N.Y., however, fliers demonstrated the airplane's superior speed and maneuverability. Flying planes was undeniably dangerousseveral men died in accidents during the competitionbut the amazing show guaranteed that the airplane would dominate aviation from then on. Mortimer expertly interweaves the three stories, vivifying each event with a riveting combination of historical detail and novelistic suspense. He does especially fine work in rendering Hawley and Post's ordeal after their balloon went down; lost in the Canadian forest, the men were faced with brutal weather and dwindling food supplies. Mortimer also paints an unforgettable portrait of roguish British flier Claude Grahame-White, famed for daredevil exploits and a rakish manner, and deftly portrays the famed Wright brothers as mean, petty and litigious. Enjoyable, accessible technological history, further enlivened by colorful character sketches of some of the most interesting figures in the early days of flying. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Those magnificent men in their flying machines were active in October 1910. A dirigible launched a transoceanic attempt from Atlantic City. Balloonists ascended from St. Louis in a contest for longest-flight bragging rights. Heavier-than-air-machines revved up at New York's Belmont horse track to compete for superlatives in height, speed, and racing. The front-page celebrities of the moment, these aeronauts excited popular interest that Mortimer, capitalizing on archives and contemporary gazettes, restores excellently. No detail, from flying togs to picnic hampers to society gossip, was too tangential for reporters to note. Such period detail embroiders Mortimer's narrative arcs, of which the first two are straightforward: that dirigible's crew was rescued at sea, and the balloonists came down in Canadian wilds and elsewhere to wend their ways back to civilization. In contrast, the airplane meet was a harum-scarum drama with wealthy sportsmen which most entrants besides businessmen Orville and Wilbur Wright were wrecking their machines and retreating to hotels or hospitals as necessary. For fans of death-defying early aviation, Mortimer's history is great fun.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2009 Booklist

Library Journal Review

British author Mortimer (The Great Swim) persuasively argues that three aeronautic events in 1910 vouchsafed the primacy of U.S. aviation and the triumph of heavier-than-air flight. Interweaving the events-Walter Wellman's failed attempt to cross the Atlantic in his dirigible, America; the International Balloon Cup Race, which embarked from St. Louis; and the country's first international aircraft contest, held above the Belmont Park racetrack in New York-Mortimer effectively places the reader at the vital center of all three. He enlivens the narrative with interesting details, such as navy department opposition to aviation as a military application and the flying records set and lost daily at Belmont Park. The author excels in depicting both the pilots and the New York City society swells attracted to aerobatic thrills, and he takes a dim view of the Wright Brothers at Belmont Park, portraying them as greedy entrepreneurs who devoted as much time looking for possible patent infringers as offering honest competition to their peers. His evocative final chapter outlines the advances in aviation and its cost in lives. A singular contribution to early aviation history.-John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author's Note	p. IX
Prologue The Biggest Events Are Yet to Come	p. 1
Chapter 1 It's Europe or But	p. 7
Chapter 2 Let's Stick by the Ship	p. 30
Chapter 3 A Sort of Bleeding to Death	p. 47
Chapter 4 Will Launch Lifeboats and Trust to You	p. 69
Chapter 5 We Are in Bad Country and Grave Danger	p. 82
Chapter 6 Progress Slow and Exhausting	p. 96
Chapter 7 Wait Until Orville Comes	p. 104
Chapter 8 An Epoch-Making Event	p. 114
Chapter 9 Tears Started to Our Eyes	p. 130
Chapter 10 A Death Trap	p. 139
Chapter 11 Here Are Two Men in a Boat	p. 157
Chapter 12 Are You These Gentlemen?	p. 171
Chapter 13 There's Always a Chimney for a Man to Hang On To	p. 185
Chapter 14 I'll Be Able to Give the Wrights a Good Race	p. 197
Chapter 15 I'm Not Hurt Much but I Want a Long Rest	p. 211
Chapter 16 It Isn't True, It Can't Be True!	p. 230
Chapter 17 My Disgust at This Betrayal	p. 242
Epilogue We're Sending Sputniks to the Moon	p. 252
Acknowledgments	p. 269
Notes	p. 271
Glossary of Aviation Terms	p. 287
Selected Bibliography and Sources	p. 289
Index	p. 293

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

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