God Gave Them Wings: British Civil Air Accidents July 1786 December 1920

'Surely the most comprehensive record of the high cost to Britain's aviation pioneers.' Flypast magazine Manned aviation started in Britain in1784, when James Tyler took to the skies above Edinburgh in a balloon. Tragically, the first fatal accident took place only a couple of years later, when 22-year-old Ralph Heron fell from an ascending balloon as he helped to launch it. > God Gave Them Wings is a compendium of the first two volumes of the British Air Accident Record series. This second edition details every recorded civil aviation accident between 1786 and 1920 in Britain, or involving British aircraft and pilots overseas, along with its investigation, and the lessons learned. It draws on official documents and contemporary accounts. Copiously illustrated with photographs from the time, the series is the most comprehensive work covering this vital aspect of aviation history. God Gave Them Wings stands alone as a record of the pioneering era in British aviation.