This series traces the adventure and science of aviation from the earliest manned balloon ascension to 1983 in the era of jets. The history of flight is told through readable text, photographs, posters, paintings, maps, and other illustrations. The set is notable for its healthy amount of WWII aviation history. As with many Time-Life sets, the editors were able to tap into Time's and Life's enormous image archives.

Authors: Oliver E. Allen, v. 9; Ralph Barker, v. 11; Douglas Botting, v. 6; Ezra Bowen, v. 5; Richard P. Hallion, v. 22; Donald Dale Jackson, v. 4, 14, 19; Edward Jablonski, v. 16; Russell Miller, v. 23; Valerie Moolman, v. 3, 8; David Nevin, v. 2, 10; Paul O'Neil, v. 7; Curtis Prendergast, v. 1; Clark G. Reynolds, v. 13; Sterling Seagrave, v. 12; Robert J. Serling, v. 17; Bryce Walker, v. 21; Warren R. Young, v. 18. No specific authors for v. 15 and 20. Only volumes 2, 3, and 4 have series numbering (which is found in the Cataloging-In-Print data). Series editors: Thomas H. Flaherty, Jr., editor, v. 1-7 (1980-1981) ; Jim Hicks, editor, v. 7-13 (1981-1982), senior editor, v. 14-18 (1982) ; Dale M. Brown, editor, v. 14-22 (1982-1983) ; Lee Hassig, editor, v. 22 (1983). No volume editor is named for v. 23.

Volume 1 :The first aviators -- volume 2 : The Pathfinders -- volume 3 : The road to Kitty Hawk -- volume 4 : The aeronauts -- volume 5 : Knights of the air -- g volume 6 : The giant airships -- volume 7 : Barnstormers & speed kings -- volume 8 : Women aloft -- volume 9 : The airline builders -- volume 10 : Architects of air power -- volume 11 : The RAF at war -- volume 12 : Soldiers of fortune -- volume 13 : The carrier war -- volume 14 : Flying the mail -- volume 15 : The Luftwaffe -- volume 16 : America in the air war -- volume 17 : The jet age -- volume 18 : The helicopters -- volume 19 : The explorers -- volume 20 : The bush pilots -- volume 21 : Fighting jets -- volume 22 : Designers and test pilots -- volume 23 : The Soviet Air Force at war.