Flying Machines: construction and operation; a practical book which shows, in illustrations, working plans and text, how to build and navigate the modern airship

It's 1910, only seven years after the Wright Brother's first flight, and excitement about "flying machines" is at such a high pitch that it seems profitable to publish a manual for the aspiring pilot. The authors, Jackman and Russell, don't seem to be particularly distinguished aviators on their own account, but they've managed to recruit the grand old man of aviation, Octave Chanute, to write their first chapter on the history of aviation, and another on the soaring flight of birds.