From the Wright Brothers to "Top Gun" : Aviation and Popular Cinema

The cinema and aviation developed alongside each other, and were both products of the technology and imagination of the early 20th century.

This book examines the ways in which aeroplanes and flying have been portrayed in the many different genres within popular cinema, from Hollywood epics to comedy spoofs to modern tragedies.

It covers over 500 American and British films, including, "The Dambusters", "The High and the Mighty", "Airplane", "Top Gun" and "The Shadowmakers".The study argues that the basic themes of the aviation film were established in the 1920s, through such Hollywood epics as "Wings" and "Hell's Angels", and that the portrayal of aviation has changed little between those early features and contemporary films.

Tha author also examines the way in which aviation films have been used to create a dynamic national image and promote technological achievement and national endeavour.