| When the Wright Brothers succeeded in flying their | | | | Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic Ocean flying "solo" |
| 'heavier than air' machine at Kitty Hawk way back in | | | | from New York to Paris in the thirties, in his single |
| 1903, everyone thought it was just a toy. However, | | | | engined airplane christened SPIRIT OF ST.LOUIS. |
| within a decade there were hundreds of such | | | | Soon the World War began and that was the time |
| machines flying and soon it became a common sight | | | | when massive development took place in the field of |
| to see flying machines dotting the skies; and they | | | | aviation. Germans were improving their aircrafts by |
| were covering longer distances. | | | | the day competing with USA and England. |
| Still, flying was only a hobby and some people who | | | | The British fighter aircrafts "Spitfires" and the German |
| were passionate about flying either purchased or built | | | | "Messer schmits" are legends even to this day. |
| and virtually lived in their own aircrafts. The only way | | | | Larger aircrafts were built to carry more people and |
| they could make a living was by flying their airplanes, | | | | more cargo. Mail that was ferried by road and rail |
| so they started giving "joy rides" to interested | | | | was sent by air, bringing forth the now popular "air |
| people to earn enough to maintain their machines and | | | | mail" service. Some businessmen and Industrialists |
| a square meal a day. When there were no takers for | | | | started calling those barnstormers asking for a lift to |
| joy rides, they would demonstrate their aerobatic | | | | some place as they found it was faster than going |
| skills like flying the "loop" or flying upside down and a | | | | by train or car, and it gave them that extra prestige. |
| variety of other stunts, near village fairs. These | | | | Thus, the advent of 'air taxis' was born. |
| pioneers were known as "barnstormers ". | | | | Slowly but surely, the world realized that airplanes |
| There were no airports as such, and these | | | | were not toys, and that they would revolutionize the |
| barnstormers flew "by the seat of their | | | | way people traveled. The world became smaller, and |
| pants"(meaning there were no navigational | | | | aviation was taken up seriously resulting in |
| equipments those days, so the aircrafts were piloted | | | | development of larger Airliners, invention of the Jet |
| much the same way as one would drive a car by | | | | engine, breaking of the "sound barrier" (traveling |
| looking around and fixing landmarks) taking off and | | | | faster than sound), and even space travel, all within a |
| landing in open fields wherever they wanted to stop | | | | century after the first ever heavier than air machine |
| over. | | | | flew! |
| The possibilities were really seen only when Charles | | | | |