Countdown to Flight (An Avon Camelot Book)

A brief history of early aeronautics with a detailed account of the events leading up to the historic flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903.

It's December 17, 1903, and Wilbur and Orville Wright are about to do what man had dreamed of for centuries -- fly! They have worked for five years, studying, trying new ideas, and testing their inventions on a lonely spot of sandy beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Finally, after many setbacks and disappointments, they are ready to launch their engine-powered aeroplane -- and this time it works. With Orville in the pilot's seat and Wilbur running alongside holding on to the bottom of the wing, the Kitty Hawk Flyer is in the air. The flight lasts just 12 seconds, but it is the beginning of a new era of the amazing flying machines that now take us all over the world.