The Enterprise of Flight

This reissue of The Enterprise of Flight: The American Aviation and Aerospace Industry (originally titled The American Aerospace Industry) is a contribution to the literature on American aviation and space exploration history. In a new introduction for this paperback edition, Roger E. Bilstein explains how international competition has affected American aerospace and airline manufacturers, leading to some unlikely partnerships, and updates the ongoing controversy over the high cost of military aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor. In the five years since the original publication, the surge in popularity of executive jets also surprised many, and the operational debut of the International Space Station proved to be a genuine historical moment.

Roger E. Bilstein is Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.