Skybridges: Aviation in North Carolina 100 Years After the Wright Brothers

In 1903 , Wilbur and Orville Wright created history in North Carolina with their flight of the first powered human-carrying airplane. One hundred years later, the results of their invention are everywhere, and aviation is a part of daily life and culture in the state where flight began. Author and photographer Jordan Schwarz takes you on a visual tour of North Carolina's airports, exploring the lesser-seen side of aviation in the state, from the breathtaking natural beauty of a remote mountaintop airport to luxurious business jets flying NASCAR teams and company executives. Skybridges explores the human side of aviation: the people who make air travel possible, and the ways in which aviation affects our everyday lives, perhaps more than we even realize.Skybridges also features interviews with three North Carolina pilots who discovered flying through very different paths: Bob Thomason, a retired banker who now operates a charter flying service; Calvin Allen, a World War II bomber pilot who later flew Army helicopters in the National Guard; and Jeff Meyer, an aspiring air freight pilot with dreams of one day captaining a commercial airliner. Representing three different generations, these North Carolina pilots all have in common a drive to turn their dreams of flying into reality.Skybridges was written in 2003, exactly 100 years after the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk. The author has preserved the character of the original recordings and photographs, making this book a "time capsule" chronicling aviation as it was in 2003. Annotations provide additional context about how technology and the face of aviation have changed in the years since. Read more