When WW1 broke out in 1914, it was reported that France had 1,400 aircraft, Germany 1,000, Great Britain 400 and the United States 23. By establishing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1915, the U.S. government took action to alter the nation's backward position in aeronautical research and established a unique agency which would become one of the most important research centres in the world.

"First published in the UK in 1993 by Airlife Publishing Limited"--T.p. verso.