|
|
 |
Maryland has a rich aviation history, from its earliest days in the 1900s through four major eras:
- The pioneer days of grass airfields,
- the classic era of the first airports, air mail, and airlines,
- the incredible expansion of military aviation in World War II, and
- the postwar and Cold War period.
Maryland aviation history includes America's first balloon ascension in Baltimore in 1784, the first "aircraft carrier" in 1861, Wilbur Wrights' instruction of Army flyers at College Park, and the Navy's pioneer flights at Annapolis.
It's also about those places on the ground where people have ascended into the air: the grass pastures of the early flying days, the commercial and general aviation airports, aviation research centers, airplane factories, missile sites, even the neighborhoods built for aircraft workers.
These are all magic places -- where the sky has touched the earth. |
|
|
