The Rocket Man
- Authors
- Darling, David
- Publisher
- Oneworld Publications
- Tags
- stuntmen , napoleonic balloonist , the history of flight , world war ii pilots , science , history of aviation , daring , space age , history , world war i pilots , human endeavour
- ISBN
- 9781780742977
- Date
- 2013-10-03T00:00:00+00:00
- Size
- 15.36 MB
- Lang
- en
The wonder of flight has long captured the human imagination. In this beguiling history – ranging from the first aircraft to astronauts and beyond – David Darling tells the stories of the true life adventurers whose wonder has translated into bizarre contraptions, magnificent achievements and, sometimes, startling folly.
Discover outrageous attempts to fly like a bird and fall from the edge of space. Meet Napoleonic ballooniste Sophie Blanchard and her daredevil husband; the real “X-Men” who flew the supersonic experimental “X-planes” for the US Air Force; stuntman Lincoln Beachey, looping-the-loop in a pinstripe suit; and, of course, The Rocket Man himself: Yves Rossy, who in 2006 was the first person to cross the English Channel using a jet-pack.
Eccentric and reckless, Darling’s daring cast of dreamers is guaranteed to entertain and inspire.