1. Numbers 10:33.
2. Ezekiel 1:4.
3. Deborah M. Coulter-Harris, The Queen of Sheba: Legend, Literature and Lore (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013); Jewish Encyclopaedia, “Solomon’s Carpet.”
4. Richard Burton, The Thousand Nights and a Night, vol. 13, 1885.
5. E. Feifel, Pao Phu Tzu (Nei Phien) Ms 1944.
6. Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Atlanticus, fol. 161r-a.
7. Leonardo da Vinci, Arundel Codex 279v.
8. The mathematical and philosophical works of the Right Reverend John Wilkins late lord bishop of Chester: to which is prefix'd the author's life, and an account of his works; in two volumes (1708).
9. Kevin Desmond, Innovators in Battery Technology: Profiles of 93 Influential Electrochemists (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016), Musschenbroek entry.
10. Desmond, Innovators, Franklin entry.
11. Desmond, Innovators, Volta entry.
12. Letter from Benjamin Franklin to his friend John Ingenhousz, a Dutch biologist and chemist, dated January 16, 1784 (Franklin Papers).
13. Marion Fulgence, Les Ballons et Les Voyages Aériens (Paris: Librairie L. Hachette et Cie. 1869), 284.
14. A Paines engine is a type of internal combustion engine using gunpowder as its fuel.
15. Thomas Edison Papers Project, Rutgers University.
16. This criticism was later endorsed by Henri de Graffigny in his book La Navigation Aerienne, published in 1888; the report was reviewed by Edwin T. Teale, “Edison’s Early Dream Ships,” Popular Aviation, June 1933.
17. The Papers of Thomas A. Edison, vol. 5 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), pp. 777–778.
18. Kevin Desmond, Gustave Trouvé: French Electrical Genius (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015), 58–60.
19. Chris Morgan, The Shape of Futures Past: The Story of Prediction (Exeter, UK: Webb & Bower, 1980), 159.
20. Desmond, Trouvé, 81.
21. “Les Applications de l’electricité à la navigation aérienne,” La Lumière électrique, 1884.
22. Desmond, Innovators, Renard entry.
23. The Renard series in geometrical progression were later adopted in 1952 in the ISO 3 norm.
24. “Fait Divers,” La Lumière Electrique, Saturday, March 20, 1886.
25. La Lumière Electrique, Saturday, July 24, 1886.
26. Jules Verne, “Robur Le Conquerant,” Journal des débats politiques et littéraires, June 29 to August 18, 1886, then in book form (Paris: Hetzel, 1886).
27. Verne, Robur, Chapter 7, “On Board the Albatross.”
28. David Seed, “The Land of the Future: British Accounts of the USA at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century,” European Journal of American Studies 11, no. 2 (Summer 2016).
29. Illinois historian Howard Scamehorn reported that both Octave Chanute and Albert Francis Zahm “publicly denounced and mathematically proved the fallacy of the vacuum principle”; however, the author does not give his source.
30. Ed Zotti, “19th century Chicago ‘aeroplane,’” The Straight Dope, July 11, 2010.
31. Clara MacCarald and Kathi McCarthy, “Dr. Martin Braun’s Air Ship,” Thousand Islands life.com, March 13, 2016.
32. Desmond, Trouvé, 111.
33. Desmond, Trouvé, 132.
34. Hiram Maxim, “Aerial Navigation, the Power Required,” The Century 42, no. 6 (October 1891): 829–837.
35. Albert Robida, Le Vingtième siècle; La Vie Electrique (Paris: La Librairie Illustrée, 1893).
36. George Chetwynd Griffith, The Angel of the Revolution: A Tale of the Coming Terror (1893).
37. “The Electric Motor in Aeronautics,” The Electrical Review, no. 852 (March 23, 1894).
38. “Electricity in Aeronautics,” The Electrical Review, no. 880 (October 5, 1894).
1. “To Traverse the Air,” San Francisco Call 79, no. 91 (February 29, 1896).
2. Daily Sentinel 5, no. 40 (January 12, 1898).
3. Garrett P. Serviss, “Edison’s Conquest of Mars,” New York Evening Journal, January 12–February 10, 1898, serialized in 26 parts, with illustrations by P. Gray.
4. U.S. Patent no. 834658 A.
5. International Aeronautical Congress, St. Louis, MO, 1904.
6. Electrical Review, April 24, 1903.
7. The Blackpool ride was still in service 100 years later.
8. James Hamilton and Phil Holmes, Chronic Inven-
tor: Life and Work of Hiram Stevens Maxim, 1840–1916 (Bexley, UK: Directorate of Education, Libraries & Museums, 1991).
9. “C.E. Taylor Laid to Rest With Aviation Pioneers,” Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1956.
10. “French Honours for Aviation,” Flight Magazine, July 31, 1909.
11. R.H. Goddard. “The green notebooks,” vol. 1. The Dr. Robert H. Goddard Collection at Clark University Archives, Clark University, Worcester, MA.
12. Robert H. Goddard, “An autobiography,” Astronautics 4:24–27, 106–109, 1959.
13. Donald W Horner, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, April 26, 2016.
14. Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British comedy film from 20th Century Fox.
15. “Unbelievable Flying Objects,” Wright-Brothers.org
16. Henri Loyrette, Henri Eiffel, un Ingénieur et Son Oeuvre (New York: Rizzoli, 1985).
17. Hermann Scheit and Bobeth, “Test of an air-propeller,” VDI Zeitschrift 55 (November 4, 1911): 1840–1846.
18. “An Electrically Driven Model Aeroplane,” The Model Engineer and Electrician 21 (October 21, 1909): 391.
19. “The Wireless War in the Air,” Marconi Heritage Group.
20. “Tesla promises Big Things. Planeless, Screwless Air Ship,” New York Sun, September 12, 1911.
21. “First Night Flight at Nashville in 1910, Recalled,” Tennessean Magazine, August 8, 1937.
22. Charles Delfus and Henri Boucher, “Histoire de l’Aeronautique,” Illustration, 1942.
23. “Flying at Hendon,” Flight, June 21, 1913.
24. C. Cole and E.F. Cheesman, The Air Defense of Britain 1914–1918 (New York: Putnam, 1984).
25. G. Wallace, Claude Grahame-White: A Biography (London: Putnam, 1960), 183.
26. “Flying at Hendon,” Flight, November 15, 1913.
27. Igor Sikorsky, Story of the Winged-S: An Autobiography by Igor Sikorsky (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1938).
1. “Edison's New Flying Machine,” The Straits Times, May 20, 1892, 2.
2. Cole and Cheesman, The Air Defense of Britain.
3. William Edward Fischer Jr., The Development of Military Night Aviation to 1919 (Alabama Air University Press, Maxwell Air Force Base, 1998).
4. “Starýplánunikátníholetadlabylnalezenna Novojičínsku,” Českátelevize, June 3, 2011; and Die k.u.k. Aeronautische Anstalt Fischamend, 2011.
5. Louis Rodier, “Le Plus Puissant Phare d’Aviation,” La Science et La Vie, no. 61 (March 1922).
6. Subbaraya Shastry, G.R. Josyer, Vymaanika Shaastra–Aeronautics by Maharshi Bharadwaaja (Mysore: Coronation Press,1973).
7. H. Oberth, Wegezur Raumschiffahrt (Munich and Berlin: Druck und Verlag von R. Oldenbourg, 1929).
8. U.S. Patent 1,865,828 (filed 1929).
9. Communication from David Wilson, Farnborough Air Sciences Trust.
10. Advertisement in Flight, June 27, 1929.
11. Arthur M. Young website; Brad McNally, “Rotorcraft Pioneers, Part IV: Arthur M Young—The Genius Behind Bell Helicopters,” Rotorcraft PR, June 15, 2010.
12. A. Piccirillo, “Electric Aircraft Pioneer: The Focke-Wulf Fw 190,” SAE Technical Paper 965631, 1996, doi:10.4271/965631.
13. G. Gingell, “Supermarine Spitfire—40 years on,” Royal Aeronautical Society, 1976.
14. Rob Arndt, “Viktor Schauberger Repulsin A & B (1940–1945),” discaircraft.greyfalcon.us.
1. “First All-Electric Takes The Air,” Aeromodeller, September 1957.
2. “Ein Leben für den Modellflug,” Kirchheimer Zeitung, September 24, 1976.
3. Aeromodeller Annual 1960–61 (Watford, UK: Model Aeronautical Pr., 1960).
4. Aeromodeller, October 1962.
5. Communication from Heidno Brditschka, June 10, 2016.
6. “Sportflugzeuge müssen keinen Lärm Machen,” Kirchheimer Zeitung, November 10, 1973.
7. Communication from Bob Boucher, December 2016.
8. Idem., Boucher.
1. Desmond, Innovators, Chapin entry.
2. Communication from Bob Boucher, December 2016.
3. Roland Boucher, “Project Sunrise Los Angeles California 1974 Flight of the World’s First Solar Powered Aircraft.”
4. “A Revolutionary Idea for a Solar-Powered Airplane: Larry Mauro tests his revolutionary idea for a solar-powered airplane,” Mother Earth News, July/August 1979.
5. Communication from Eric Raymond, November 2016.
6. Communication from Janice Sullivan (née Brown), December 6, 2016.
7. Communication from Steve Ptacek, November 21, 2016.
8. Ptacek.
9. At time of writing, Mrs. Janice Sullivan (née Brown) is a flight instructor at Bakersfield Flying Club, while Steve Ptacek is nearing retirement after flying Boeing 777s for United Airlines. Aged 66, he would like to fly an electric sailplane.
10. “Solair I: Das erste deutsche Solarflugzeug fliegt. Günter Rocheltverwirklichttechnologischen Traum,” aerokurier (April 1981): 463–465.
11. Communication from Eric Raymond, November 2016.
12. “China launches solar aircraft Wed,” AFP, August 31, 1994.
13. “Solar-powered UAV flies two days straight,” Machine Design, August 18, 2005.
14. Communication from Eric Raymond, March 2016.
15. Denise Civiletti, “Luminati will have till at least Nov. 30 to culminate April letter of intent for EPCAL; Catsimatidis still not committed to deal,” Riverhead
Local, November 4, 2017.
16. “University of Maryland Achieves First Flight of a Solar-Powered, Piloted Helicopter,” UMD Right Now, September 9, 2016.
17. “Researchers have shown ultrathin, air-stable perovskite solar cells for powering unmanned aircraft,” SPIE 30, August 2016.
1. Desmond, Innovators.
2. Communication from John Emms of Puffin Models, July 2016.
3. Communication from Stefan Gehrmann, November 2016.
4. Communication from Randall B. Fishman, June 2016.
5. Communication from Jonas Larssen, principal engineer, electric power and avionics, Saab Aeronautics, September 25, 2016.
6. Dean Sigler, “Power Up Front,” January 11, 2009.
7. Nicole Bertin, “L’avion 100% électrique est né à Royan! Perspective de commercialization en 2017,” Blog, October 11, 2014.
8. “The first electric-powered amphibia in the world,” Seaplane International, August 12, 2011.
9. Stephen Trimble, “Rutan enters seaplane market with SkiGull unveiling,” Flightglobal, August 11, 2015; Pia Bergqvist, “Project Notebook: Retirement Dream Burt Rutan's SkiGull takes shape. Will it be his last airplane?” Flying, March 21, 2016.
10. Viknesh Vijayenthiran “Dutch sports car brand Spyker developing electric SUV,” Green Car Reports, April 4, 2016.
11. “British company launches electric Furio project,” aeroexpo.co.uk/news, November 13, 2015.
12. Jon Excell, “UK team eyes solar-powered airship potential,” The Engineer, March 21, 2015.
1. Kevin Desmond, Electric Boats and Ships: A History (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2017).
2. Communication from Lorne Campbell, September 4, 2016.
3. IEEE History Center, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
4. Tom Koehler, “Boeing makes history with flights of Fuel Cell Demonstrator Airplane,” www.boeing.com, May 1, 2008.
5. “Emission-free, electric flight—DLR presents the HY4 research platform at the 2016 Hannover Trade Fair,” April 26, 2016.
6. Hydrogeit, “Fuel Cell Passenger Aircraft for Medium-Distance Flights,” H-2 International, March 1, 2017.
7. “China becomes 3rd country to test hydrogen-powered plane,” RT Question More, January 9, 2017.
8. Shani Elitzur et al., “On-board hydrogen production for auxiliary power in passenger aircraft,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017).
9. Joshua Barrie, “The UK Tests The First Electric Plane That Can Charge Its Batteries During Flight,” businessinsider.com, January 14, 2015.
10. Stephen Trimble, “GE reveals major achievements in hybrid electric propulsion,” FlightGlobal.com, August 25, 2017.
1. Dave Calderwood, “Pipistrel to make electric aircraft in China,” Flyer, November 1, 2016.
2. Communication from Taja Boscarol, September 10, 2017.
3. Thomas A. Horne, “Siemens denies e-motors to Pipistrel,” Aopa.org, July 7, 2015.
4. Didier Esteyne, “The Cross Channel Story,” communication to the author, November 28, 2016.
5. “Russia has created an all-electric aircraft,” popmech.ru, April 1, 2014.
6. Dean Sigler, “China’s First Certified Electric Airplane Ready for Mass Production,” Sustainable Skies, March 15, 2016.
7. “Chinese-Hungarian joint venture to manufacture electric-powered aircraft,” Budapest Beacon, September 13, 2016.
8. Dean Sigler, “Electric Powerplants,” Sustainable Aviation, September 26, 2016.
9. AE 590: Dr. Mark Moore, NASA Langley Research Center, “The Coming Era of Distributed Electric Propulsion—and What It Means,” Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, October 26, 2015.
10. “Flying Whales and Skeleton Technologies partner to develop next generation of large capacity airships,” Graphen-info, July 4, 2016.
11. Dave Calderwood, “Airbus to show hybrid E-Fan Plus at Oshkosh,” Flyer, July 22, 2016.
12. “Elektromotorstelltzweifachen Geschwindigkeitsrekord auf,” Siemens, München, April 4, 2017.
13. Woodrow Bellamy III, “Airbus CTO Sees Electric Aircraft Drastically Changing Commercial Aviation,” aviationtoday.com, June 6, 2017.
14. The e-aircraft which flew at Grenchen: Magnus eFusion, Aeros ANT-E, Alisport Silent 2 Electro, IFB eGenius, EGO Trike, RühleATOS Silent Glider, Antares 20 E, ATOS VR-190, Archeopteryx Electro, Icaré II xxl, and the D-14 Phoenix.
15. Logging up 126 hours, Cornelia was the third woman electric aviatrix since Janice Brown flight-tested Solar Challenger in 1980 and Irena Raymond logged up 110 hours in Sunseeker II.
16. Communication from René Meier, September 18, 2017.
17. “Air Transat to test taxiing system that could cut emissions,” Canadian Press, January 18, 2017.
18. Alan Boyle, “Zunum Aero emerges from stealth mode with big plans for hybrid electric planes,” GeekWire, April 5, 2017.
19. Mark Molloy, “Plans for London-Paris electric flight in ‘next decade’ unveiled,” The Telegraph Technology, March 22, 2017.
20. “Schwarzenegger debuts ‘dream’ electric Hummer,” Wheels, September 21, 2017.
1. Jean-François Prevéraud, “Le drone a 100 ans,” Vieilletechnologique, March 3, 2015.
2. David Boddington, Radio-Controlled Model Aircraft (Crowood Press, 2004).
3. Kevin Desmond, “I, Nikola Tesla,” Radio Control
Boat Modeller, May/June 1987.
4. B.F. Meissner, Radiodynamics: The Wireless Control of Torpedoes and Other Mechanisms (New York: Van Nostrand, 1916). The FL-boat (Fernlenkboote, literally “remote controlled boat” was a weapon employed by the Imperial German Navy during World War I; it was, however, powered by gasoline engines.
5. Edmond Petit, New aviation history (Albin Michel, 1997), and Louis Bonte, L'histoire des essaisenvol (1914–1940) (Paris: Editions Larivière, 1975).
6. Steve Zaloga (Teal Group), “A Word With a History,” Defense News, 2013.
7. Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Atlanticus B, fol 83 verso.
8. Kevin Desmond, Gustave Trouvé, French Electrical Genius (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015).
9. Mike Hirschberg, “Electric VTOL Wheel of Fortune,” Vertiflite, March/April 2017.
1. Communication from Bob Boucher, December 21, 2016.
2. Communication from Ray Morgan, 2016.
3. Sebastian Anthony, “NASA’s electric vertical-takeoff airplane takes first flight, aims to eventually replace the helicopter,” Extreme Tech, August 20, 2014.
4. Arjan Khapal, “Amazon wants to use lampposts, churches,” CNBC, July 2016.
5. “Hackers to start hijacking drones used for deliveries and policing,” thejournal.ie, December 3, 2016.
6. Communications from Novadem during July 2016.
7. “Students build electric-powered personal flying machine,” Science Daily, December 2, 2015.
8. Patent 20160031555.
9. “Lady Gaga pilots first flying dress,” dezeen magazine, November 11, 2013.
10. Thomas J. Mueller, “On the Birth of Micro Air Vehicles,” International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles 1, no. 1 (2009).
11. Jennifer Chu, “Miniaturizing the brain of a drone: Method for designing efficient computer chips may get miniature smart drones off the ground,” MIT News, July 11, 2017.
12. Fatima Bhojani, “For Good or Bad, Intelligent, Swarming Nanobots Are the Next Frontier of Drones,” Motherboard, May 21, 2014.
13. Andrew Liszewski, “Borrowing a Clever Trick From Birds, This Smart Glider Could One Day Fly Forever Without a Motor,” Gizmodo, http://gizmodo.com/borrowing-a-clever-trick-from-birds-this-smart-glider-1797896712, August 11, 2017.
14. Dina Spector, “Tiny Flying Robots Are Being Built to Pollinate Crops Instead of Real Bees,” Business Insider, July 7, 2014; Alexia Erickson, “Robotic Bees are now being built to pollinate crops instead of real bees,” NextStory, October 5, 2016.
15. Emily Matchar, “Turning Dragonflies Into Drones,” The Drone News.com, February 11, 2017.
1. Hannah Kuchler, “Facebook hails first test flight of Aquila internet drone,” Technology, July 21, 2016.
2. Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter, February 14, 2016.
3. Rachel Swatman, “Intel launches 500 drones into sky and breaks world record in spectacular style,” Guinness World Records, November 4, 2016.
4. FlightRadar24.
5. Oliver Starr, “Fleye could be your personal autonomous robot drone,” Gizmag, December 10, 2015.
6. Kerry Reals, “Aircraft engineers turn to biomimicry for greener designs,” Flight Global, August 9, 2010.
7. Mary-Ann Russon, “Good news for Star Wars fans—Flike personal flight vehicle passes first manned test flights,” International Business Times, June 1, 2015.
8. Dean Sigler, “An Electric Autogyro,” Sustainable Aviation, July 24, 2015.
9. “Airbus working on flying car,” Motoring, August 23, 2016.
1. “L'Aéroplane à Moteur de M. Vuia,” L'Aérophile, September 1906.
2. Loz Blain, “Safety last: Russian hoverbike is equally amazing and horrifying,” New Atlas, February 21, 2017.
1. “Boeing Files Patent to Generate Electricity from Airport Noise,” What A Future!, September 18, 2015.
2. Fabrizio Poli, “The Electric Plane,” linkedin.com, November 8, 2014.
3. Jon Hemmerdinger, “Three ‘miracles’ required for mainstream electric-powered aircraft, says P&W,” Flightglobal, May 23, 2014.
4. Tom Neuman, “How I Designed a Practical Electric Plane for NASA,” IEEE Spectrum, May 24, 2016. This article appeared in the June 2016 print issue as “Fly the Electric Skies.”
5. Jim Banke, “Students Get Charged Up Designing Future Electric Aircraft,” NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, September 20, 2016.
6. Philippe J. Masson, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, “Development of a 3D Sizing Model for All-Superconducting Machines for Turbo-Electric Aircraft Propulsion,” IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity 23, no. 3 (January 14, 2013).
7. Communication from Daniel Cristóbal, Executive Partnern AXTER AEROSPACE—March 2017.
8. “‘Game-changing’ electric motors could power aircraft,” Drives & Controls, March 14, 2017.
9. Dyllan Furness, “Boeing's solar-powered airplane looks ridiculous, but it might just be crazy enough to work,” Digital Trends, June 15, 2016.
10. “Digital Morphing Wing: Active Wing Shaping Concept Using Composite Lattice-Based Cellular Structures,” Soft Robotics 4, no. 1 (2017).
11. Ryan O'Hare, “Bat drone takes to the skies! Flying machine uses shape-changing wings inspired by the mammals,” MailOnline, February 18, 2016.
12. Richard Gray, MailOnline, March 6, 2015.
13. David L. Chandler × MIT News Office January 6, 2017.
14. Greg Nibler, “Amazon Patents a Flying Warehouse for Drone Delivery,” DT Daily, December 29, 2016.
15. “Retailer Gets Patent for Mega-Drone,” Live-
Science January 6, 2017.
16. Communication from Lee Cronin, June 15, 2017; Anthony Cutherbertson, “Drones could be ‘grown’ with chemputer machine,” Newsweek, May 7, 2016.
17. Alan Tovey, “Rolls-Royce: the future of flight is electric,” The Telegraph, December 31, 2016.
18. Deccan Herald, December 16, 2003; Times of India, October 18, 2004.
19. “‘Telepathic’ microchip could help paraplegics control computers,” The Telegraph, September 3, 2009.
20. Bin He et al., “Quadcopter control in three-dimensional space using a noninvasive motor imagery-based brain–computer interface,” Journal of Neural Engineering 10, no. 4 (June 2013).
21. “Using wireless interface, operators control multiple drones by thinking of various tasks,” Science Daily, July 13, 2016.
22. Jack Stewart, “I Used Only My Mind to Fly a Plane Around Seattle,” Wired, November 2016.
1. Communication from André Borscberg, December 7, 2016.
2. Borschberg.
3. Idem.
4. Idem.
5. Borschberg.
6. Idem.
7. From information kindly supplied to the author by Julie Conti, Senior Media Relations Officer, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
8. Miquel Ros “Greener skies: Frenchman prepares for history-making zero-carbon Atlantic flight,” CNN, May 13, 2016.
1. Communication from Ray Morgan, December 2016.
2. Communication from Jean-Luc Soullier, August 2, 2017.
3. Communication from Chip Yates, December 2016.