| Part I—The Evolution of the Aeroplane | ||
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
| I. | THE PERIOD OF LEGEND | 3 |
| II. | EARLY EXPERIMENTS | 15 |
| III. | SIR GEORGE CAYLEY—THOMAS WALKER | 43 |
| IV. | THE MIDDLE NINETEENTH CENTURY | 56 |
| V. | WENHAM, LE BRIS, AND SOME OTHERS | 71 |
| VI. | THE AGE OF THE GIANTS | 83 |
| VII. | LILIENTHAL AND PILCHER | 95 |
| VIII. | AMERICAN GLIDING EXPERIMENTS | 107 |
| IX. | NOT PROVEN | 121 |
| X. | SAMUEL PIERPOINT LANGLEY | 133 |
| XI. | THE WRIGHT BROTHERS | 145 |
| XII. | THE FIRST YEARS OF CONQUEST | 176 |
| XIII. | FIRST FLIERS IN ENGLAND | 188 |
| XIV. | RHEIMS, AND AFTER | 199 |
| XV. | THE CHANNEL CROSSING | 211 |
| XVI. | LONDON TO MANCHESTER | 217 |
| XVII. | A SUMMARY—TO 1911 | 221 |
| XVIII. | A SUMMARY—TO 1914 | 233 |
| XIX. | THE WAR PERIOD—I | 246 |
| XX. | THE WAR PERIOD—II | 259 |
| XXI. | RECONSTRUCTION | 264 |
| XXII. | 1919–1920 | 270 |
| Part II—1903–1920: Progress in Design | ||
| I. | THE BEGINNINGS | 277 |
| II. | MULTIPLICITY OF IDEAS | 289 |
| III. | PROGRESS ON STANDARDISED LINES | 296 |
| IV. | THE WAR PERIOD | 306 |
| Part III—Aerostatics | ||
| I. | BEGINNINGS | 317 |
| II. | THE FIRST DIRIGIBLES | 331 |
| III. | SANTOS-DUMONT | 342 |
| IV. | THE MILITARY DIRIGIBLE | 348 |
| V. | BRITISH AIRSHIP DESIGN | 359 |
| VI. | THE AIRSHIP COMMERCIALLY | 372 |
| VII. | KITE BALLOONS | 376 |
| Part IV—Engine Development | ||
| I. | THE VERTICAL TYPE | 383 |
| II. | THE VEE TYPE | 404 |
| III. | THE RADIAL TYPE | 417 |
| IV. | THE ROTARY TYPE | 428 |
| V. | THE HORIZONTALLY-OPPOSED ENGINE | 440 |
| VI. | THE TWO-STROKE CYCLE ENGINE | 447 |
| VII. | ENGINES OF THE WAR PERIOD | 458 |
| APPENDICES | 469 | |
| A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AERONAUTICS | 504 | |