Model Plane Flies the Atlantic Additional Information

Recommended Web sites:

You can learn more about TAM-5’s historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean at www.tam.plannet21.com/.

The Academy of Model Aeronautics has a Web site at www.modelaircraft.org/. Maynard Hill tells his own story at www.modelaircraft.org/mag/mhill/text.htm.

You can learn more about the Wright brothers’ first flight at sln.fi.edu/flights/first/intro.html(Franklin Institute).

Information for kids about the centennial of flight can be found

at www.centennialofflight.gov/user/kids.htm (U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission).


Books recommended by SearchIt!Science:

First to Fly: How Wilbur & Orville Wright Invented the Airplane — Peter Busby

Published by Madison Press/Little, Brown & Co./AOL Time Warner, 2002.

Wilbur and Orville Wright started off with a bicycle shop, but eventually the brothers’ passion turned towards aviation. This biography of the Wright brothers mentions their early days in bicycling before detailing their experiments with gliders, their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, the reaction of the press to their flights, and their production of planes for the Army. Stunning oil paintings, colorful diagrams, and sepia-toned period photographs capture the wonder and perseverance of the two men who were first to fly.

Lost Star: The Story of Amelia Earhart — Patricia Lauber

Published by Scholastic, 1988.

When Amelia Earhart took off in an airplane for a trip around the world in 1937, she hoped to be the first woman ever to make the journey. Somewhere between New Guinea and San Francisco, Earhart and her plane disappeared from the skies. What really happened to Amelia Earhart? This biography tells the story of her life from her birth in 1897 to the time of that fateful last flight. Her years growing up and her many aviation “firsts” are described next to photographs, maps, and newspaper clippings. A teacher’s guide and other items are available at http://teacher.scholastic.com/earhart/index.htm.

The Story of Flight: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum— Judith E. Rinard

Published by Firefly Books, 2002.

“Where can you walk in the door and see a collection of history’s most famous airplanes and spacecraft hanging from the ceiling and displayed all around you?” The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum displays aircraft from around the world. But if you can’t make it out to the museum in Washington, D.C., this book should satisfy your curiosity. Jam-packed with color photographs and illustrations, the double-page spreads of this informative book feature topics such as early flying machines, early air races, and fighter planes. While the book looks back in time at early mail planes, spy planes, and the first moon landing, it also looks forward to the prospects of space travel and possible journeys to Mars.

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Power Words

aeronautics The science of designing, building, and flying aircraft.

Global Positioning System A system that shows the exact position of objects on Earth by displaying their latitude and longitude on a computer screen. The instruments in the Global Positioning System get their information by exchanging signals with satellites in orbit around the Earth. Global Positioning System is called GPS for short.

Copyright © 2002, 2003 Houghton-Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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