Illinois

Illinois history exceeds the capacity of the Sears Catalog for categorization and the World’s Fair for spectacle. And no matter what the self-appointed tour guide at the local diner might say, the heritage of the land of Lincoln doesn’t end with Capone’s demise. Like the Chicago Loop, the Prairie State’s past seems to defy straightforward chronology—Cahokia offered a version of urban sprawl more than a thousand years before the first Windy City skyscraper. From Park Forest to Cave-in-Rock, scan our shelf of Illinois history books with the unflagging enthusiasm of a Wrigley Field hot dog vendor. [View all Illinois books]
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Midway Airport
Midway Airport
$24.99
Chicago
Chicago
$24.99
Lost Airports of Chicago
Lost Airports of Chicago
$21.99
Quad City International Airport
Quad City International Airport
$24.99
Springfield Aviation
Springfield Aviation
$24.99

Midway Airport

9780738598505

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In 1903, Chicago fell in love with flying. Enterprising people opened airfields and designed and built aircraft, and aviators won big money at air meets. After World War I, aviation was a serious matter with explosive commercial potential. A transcontinental airmail service was established and became the impetus for the first airlines. Aspiring to be first in aviation, the City of Chicago considered each of its existing airfields to develop into its new, modern municipal airport. It chose none of them and instead decided on a square mile of property 10 miles southwest of the city as the location for what would soon become the "World's Busiest Airport."
Midway Airport

Chicago

9780738531700

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Since the late 1800s, Chicago has been a mecca for aviation. Chicago's Octave Chanute kept the skies filled with revolutionary gliders and his expertise in aeronautics contributed to the Wright Brothers' success. Chicago: City of Flight tells the story of aviation in the city with exciting chapters on early "birdmen," the birth of Chicago as a major airmail center, the spectacular chills and thrills of international airports and airplane manufacturers, and airlines, such as United Airlines, that were born in the city. Later topics include the city's modern aerospace industry and an exclusive look at Chicago's Wright Redux project, members of which designed and manufactured a replica Wright flyer. They plan to fly it over the city on December 17, 2003, in celebration of 100 years of manned, powered flight.
Chicago

Lost Airports of Chicago

9781609499006

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To book a ride on the "World's Shortest Airline" or learn aerial stunts from the redheaded widow of Lawrence Avenue, you've got to go through the airports buried beneath the housing developments and shopping malls of Chicagoland. Many of these airports sprang up after World War I, when training killed more pilots than combat, and the aviation pioneers who developed Chicago's flying fields played a critical role in getting the nation ready to dare the skies in World War II. Author Nick Selig has rolled wheels on his fair share of Chicago's landing strips but faces an entirely new challenge in touching down in places being swallowed by a city and forgotten by history.
Lost Airports of Chicago

Quad City International Airport

9780738583716

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In 1922, three men were so captivated with flying they leased 30 acres of cow pasture south of Moline to serve as a landing field. Other early aviators and barnstormers began using Franing Field, and it soon became known as Moline Airport. The field hosted the Ford Reliability Tour four times, served as part of the original New York to Dallas airmail route, had passenger service as early as 1927, became one of Illinois's largest Works Progress Administration projects, weathered financial struggles and a battle with neighboring Davenport, Iowa, over which community would possess the area's commercial airport, and has enjoyed constant growth and updates for both airline and general aviation traffic. This collection of historical photographs and images will present the people, planes, events, and development of that former pastureland into today's modern Quad City International Airport, the third largest airport for passenger traffic in the state of Illinois.
Quad City International Airport

Springfield Aviation

9780738561592

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Citizens of Springfield first witnessed human flight, a balloon ascent, on July 5, 1858. In 1861, the capital city's most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln, then residing in the White House, authorized the creation of the first U.S. "air force," a balloon to observe Confederate troops. Springfield's interface with aviation has been a steady stream of hot-and-cold-running enthusiasm since airplanes began flying from the state fair racetrack infield about 1910. Springfield Aviation chronicles that flow and concludes with photographs from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in early 2008. It presents photographs of memorable airplanes, airships, and prominent aviators from the author's extensive collection, augmented by contributions from Springfield Airport Authority, Lincoln Library's Sangamon Valley Collection, and many others.
Springfield Aviation