Known as the "Air Capital of the World," Wichita,
Kansas, has been continuously associated with
aviation longer than any city in the world. The city's inventive and entrepreneurial spirit made an early mark on the aviation and aerospace industries. From the first hot air balloons floating over the wheat fields to the major aviation corporations that still call the city home, Wichita has been associated with the wonder of flight, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2003. The images in this book document the evolution of flight and its subsequent effect on the cowtown that dared to dream it could become an international center for aviation.
Background Information
Kansas was a battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forces before being admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861. Americans Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted the first heavier-than-air flight and America has led in aviation innovations ever since.
