Skyward (The Lakeside Classics)

xliii, 388 pp. Includes colored fold-out map illustrating the historic flights of Admiral Byrd (1919-1927) and black-and-white photographs.  "Man's mastery of the air as shown by the brilliant flights of America's leading air explorer. His life, his thrilling adventures, his North Pole and Transatlantic flights, together with his plans for conquering the Antarctic by air." "Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau. Byrd claimed that his expeditions had been the first to reach both the North Pole and the South Pole by air. However, his claim to have reached the North Pole is disputed." CONTENTS: List of Illustrations; Historical Introduction; The Flyer's Viewpoint; Learning to Fly; On the Thin Edge of Eternity; Thwarted Hopes; First Trans-Atlantic Flight; Political Interlude; The ZR-2 Disaster; I Turn Explorer; The North Pole; Success at Last!; This Hero Business; Trans-Atlantic Flight; A Narrow Escape; In Defense of Spectacular Flights; The Last Challenge; Behind the Scenes; Index; List of the Lakeside Classics.