At 10:35 in the morning of Thursday, December 17, 1903, man got his wings. On the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright flew the motorized aircraft he and his brother Wilbur had constructed to a distance less than the length of the wingspan of today's 747 jet. They made three other flights the same day, the final lasting 59 seconds for a distance over the ground of 852 feet. The world would never be the same after that day. Mankind was finally off the ground in powered flight. And man's experiences in the air would forevermore join the literature of human endeavors, to be shared by kindred spirits as well as the curious sorts who have wanted to know, "What was it like up there?" In THE GREATEST FLYING STORIES EVER TOLD, editor Lamar Underwood has collected some of the finest writings, both fact and realistic fiction, to lay bare the drama of human beings coping with the skills needed to direct their machines through the vastness of the skies. With contributions from: Charles Lindbergh, Ernest K. Gann, General Chuck Yeager, Leo Janos, Tom Wolfe, Mary Lovell, Richard Bach, Rinker Buck, Diane Ackerman, Derek Robinson, and more.

About the Author
LAMAR UNDERWOOD is the former editor-in-chief of Sports Afield and Outdoor Life and is presently the editorial director of the Outdoor Magazine Group of Harris Publications in New York. He is the author of the novel On Dangerous Ground published by Doubleday in 1989 and is the editor of several Lyons Press anthologies, including The Greatest War Stories Ever Told, The Greatest Adventure Stories Ever Told, Tales of the Mountain Men, The Quotable Soldier, The Quotable Writer and others on hunting, fishing and the outdoors. He is currently completing the anthology The Greatest Submarine Stories Ever Told, due to be published by The Lyons Press in the spring of 2004. Although not a licensed pilot, Lamar is an avid aviation buff who flies every chance he gets and reads about flying when stuck on the ground, between time spent running computer flight simulation programs and watching films, tapes and DVDs. This book stems from his deep love of flying and his firm belief that one of the greatest things about flying is that not very many people can do it-safely and with great skill. Those that can, to Lamar, are special people.

Reviews
"Another in Lyons Press's first-rate greatest stories series."--The Tampa Tribune



Book Information
ISBN 9781592284818
Author Lamar Underwood
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint The Lyons Press
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 13mm