THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

by WILLIAM J. CLAXTON




PREFACE

This book makes no pretence of going minutely into the technical
and scientific sides of human flight: rather does it deal mainly
with the real achievements of pioneers who have helped to make
aviation what it is to-day.

My chief object has been to arouse among my readers an
intelligent interest in the art of flight, and, profiting by
friendly criticism of several of my former works, I imagine that
this is best obtained by setting forth the romance of triumph in
the realms of an element which has defied man for untold
centuries, rather than to give a mass of scientific principles
which appeal to no one but the expert.

So rapid is the present development of aviation that it is
difficult to keep abreast with the times. What is new to-day
becomes old to-morrow. The Great War has given a tremendous
impetus to the strife between the warring nations for the mastery
of the air, and one can but give a rough and general impression
of the achievements of naval and military airmen on the various
fronts.