Pioneers, Showmen and the RFC: Early Aviation in Ireland 1909-1914

"Few people nowadays are able to visualise the difficulties and dangers of learning to fly in 1910...flying was in the experimental stage, it was impossible to predict how the frail and flimsy structure would behave in the air." Captain Frederick Sykes, writing in 1940. This is a brand new account of early aviation in Ireland. It describes and examines the key events in the field of aviation during the bare five years between Harry Ferguson's first flight and the outbreak of the Great War. It studies the people, the aircraft and the places involved, and makes much use of contemporary sources to reveal the story through the eyes of those who witnessed these exciting times. All main personalities are covered as well as much new research on several more obscure pioneers.