The National Air Races And The Maturation Of The Aviation Industry 1929 1939 PDF Download

The National Air Races were a series of events that bridged two very different periods of the history of aviation. The event attempted to preserve the glamour and drama that characterized the pioneering days of aviation's history. At the same time, the it purported to be a proving ground for cutting edge aeronautical technology. Despite the claims of the event's management, the National Air Races did not contribute to aviation technology and were unable to overcome their inherent nature as spectacles for entertainment. Aviation was presented as both a thrilling adventure and a burgeoning technology promising speed, reliability and safety. The National Air Races were unable to reconcile these two contradictory characterizations of aviation. During this period, aircraft manufacturing was increasingly dominated by large, well-connected firms. The pilots and aircraft builders who participated in the National Air Races were compelled to build and fly aircraft as entertainers due to a lack of opportunities in the industry. It is generally thought that the Great Depression makes a point of transition between aviation's heroic past and its emergence as a mature industry. The National Air Races demonstrates the resiliency of the idea of aviation as a source of awe-inspiring feats of daring and the irreconcilability of this idea with notions of safety and reliability.