L.A. Birdmen: West Coast Aviators and the First Airshow in America by Goodrich, Richard J.

L.A. Birdmen: West Coast Aviators and the First Airshow in America

Although most credit Wilbur and Orville Wright with America's first powered flight, two months before the brothers...
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SKU: 9781493084395
Product Type: Books
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Author: Richard J. Goodrich
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $67.83
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L.A. Birdmen: West Coast Aviators and the First Airshow in America by Goodrich, Richard J.

L.A. Birdmen: West Coast Aviators and the First Airshow in America

$67.83

L.A. Birdmen: West Coast Aviators and the First Airshow in America

$67.83
Author: Richard J. Goodrich
Format: Hardcover
Language: English

Although most credit Wilbur and Orville Wright with America's first powered flight, two months before the brothers lifted off the sands of Kitty Hawk, a French immigrant named August Greth flew the California Eagle, an airship of his own design, across the skies of San Francisco. While the Wrights claimed they had invented a flying machine, Greth and the California aviators proved it in front of thousands of spectators at state fairs and festivals across the country.

L.A. Birdmen is the fascinating and forgotten story of America's first aviators--Californians like August Greth, Tom Baldwin, Roy Knabenshue, John Montgomery, and James Zerbe. Possessing a rare blend of ingenuity, creativity, and bravery, these pilots captured the world's attention in 1910 when Los Angeles hosted America's first international airshow. Inspired by a flying exhibition held in Reims, France, Los Angeles promoter Dick Ferris convinced the city to host a competing event--a show that featured the world's best pilots and machines and would firmly establish Los Angeles as the center of American aviation.

Featuring a fierce competition between French pilot Louis Paulhan and American Glenn Curtiss, the Los Angeles International Aviation Meet was a revelation: the pilots shattered existing aviation records, refuted those who doubted the viability of heavier-than-air flying machines, and performed death-defying stunts. The ten days of flying received national newspaper coverage and attracted more than 100,000 visitors, including future industry leaders like Glenn Martin and William Boeing.

L.A. Birdmen offers a high-flying account of the West Coast contribution to aviation, a little-recognized chapter in the story of American flight. In the first decade of the twentieth century, these dashing aviators--not the Wrights--were the public face of American aviation.



Author: Richard J. Goodrich
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 07/02/2024
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781493084395


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 05/15/2024 pg. 5

About the Author

Richard J. Goodrich earned his Ph. D, at St. Andrews and spent twenty years teaching ancient history in Britain and the United States. In addition to six academic texts, he is the author of Comet Madness: How the 1910 Return of Halley's Comet (Almost) Destroyed Civilization. Visit the author at www.RichardJGoodrich.com.


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