Aviation Chicago Timeline is a chronology presenting the rich tapestry of Chicago’s role in shaping aviation in the United States. The book traces the pivotal role that Chicago played in the development of aviation in the United States. Long before the Wright Brothers took to the air, Chicago had an active balloon community, and Octave Chanute was providing the latest aviation research to scores of experimenters. In the 1910s, the city was bustling with flight schools, airplane manufacturers, air shows, and aviation developers. By the 1920s, Chicago was the core of the U.S. air mail system and easily transitioned into a major air passenger hub. Throughout its history, Chicago has produced leaders who shaped U.S. aviation policy, including Benjamin Lipsner (the first Superintendent of Aerial Mail of the Post Office Dept.), Daniel McCracken (major designer of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 and the the first Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aviation), and Samuel Skinner (Secretary of Transportation under Pres. George H.W. Bush).

Aviation Chicago Timeline offers a fascinating account of more than a thousand events documenting the development of aviation in Chicago and the surrounding region. The author, Michael Haupt, provides a series of accessibly written stories that portray Chicago’s gripping aviation history in an inviting and interesting fashion. Haupt’s meticulous research, attention to detail, and exhaustive notes make this book an essential tool for everyone interested in the history of aviation in the U.S., but especially in Chicago.

The Timeline portion of the site contains several sections

Excerpts

This section contains a selection of current and future entries from book, Aviation Chicago Timeline. Whenever possible, notes and references contain active internet links. As in the book, the entries are arranged chronologically.

Changes

This section provides a short list of entries that have been modified changed in the online version. The list shows the most recently modified entries first.

Glossary

One requested feature was to provide a glossary of all the acronyms. The Glossary deserves its own section.