Читать книгу Wings for the Fleet - George Van Deurs - Страница 5

FOREWORD

More than half a century ago, as officer of the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, I watched a daring young man make the world’s first aeroplane landing aboard ship. Aviation was in its infancy then; less than ten years had passed since the Wright brothers had made the world’s first powered flight. Few who watched Ely’s sensational feat realized its historical significance, for that day marked the actual beginning of naval aviation.

The men who ventured into the air in the Navy’s first frail aircraft, and the trial and error methods by which they developed naval aviation into the mighty weapon it was to become in World War II, are nearly forgotten now in a swift passing of history. They were not only daring—they had vision, persistence, and nearly unlimited determination, qualities which were required if they were to convince the skeptics that their playthings of the wind could ever possess military value.

Here, written by a naval aviator who knew many of those early birds—“Bald Eagles,” we call them now—is the account of their trials, tragedies, and triumphs.

Admiral van Deurs relates events during the first seven years when naval aviation was, as it were, getting off the ground. He tells the story well. To him, and to all those who, like him, flew in the days when every flight was still an adventure into the unknown, the Navy and the nation owe a vast debt of gratitude. This book will enable many who were not so fortunate as I, who saw it all begin, to appreciate the heritage of modern seagoing air power.

FRANK LUCKEL

Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired)