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The Wind and Beyond

A Documentary Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America

U.S. Navy J-4 airship with Hangar One, circa 1934.

The airplane ranks as one of history’s most ingenious and phenomenal inventions. It has surely been one of the most world-changing. How ideas about aerodynamics first came together and how the science and technology evolved to forge the airplane into the revolutionary machine that it became is the epic story told in this multivolume work, The Wind and Beyond: A Documentary Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America.

The Wind and Beyond is an award-winning reference work, drawing together the historical documents that spell out the advancements in aviation technology and aerodynamics throughout the twentieth century.

NASA SP-4409

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Cover design for The Wind and Beyond Volume I

Volume I: The Ascent of the Airplane

Volume I is an account of the invention of the airplane and creation of the aeronautical research establishment in the United States. Edited by James R. Hansen with D. Bryan Taylor, Jeremy Kinney, and J. Lawrence Lee. PDF (4.7 MB)

Cover design for The Wind and Beyond Volume II

Volume II: Reinventing the Airplane

Volume II explores the airplane design revolution of the 1920s and 1930s and the quest for improved airfoils. Edited by James R. Hansen with Jeremy Kinney, D. Bryan Taylor, Molly Prickett, and J. Lawrence Lee. PDF (5.9 MB)

The Wind and Beyond Volume III: Other Paths, Other Flyways, front cover design

Volume III: Other Paths, Other Flyways

Volume III explores the aerodynamics of airships, flying boats, and rotary-wing aircraft. Edited by James R. Hansen and Jeremy R. Kinney with D. Bryan Taylor, Molly F. Prickett, and J. Lawrence Lee. PDF (16.6 MB)

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