Earth touches heavens @Mary Evans Picture Library

Richard Branson with Steve Fossett @ Getty Images

Relief depicting Daedalus and Icarus, 1st-2nd century (stone) (b/w photo), Roman/Museo Torlonia, Rome, Italy/Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library

Da Vinci's Parachute @ Mary Evans/Rue des Archives/Tallandier

Children's Games (Kinderspiele): detail of left-hand section showing children making toys and blowing bubbles, 1560 (oil on panel) (detail of 68945), Breugel, Pieter the Elder 9c. 1525-69)/Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria/Ali Meyer/The Bridgeman Art Library

Cameron N-type envelope@ Cameron Balloons Ltd, Bristol, UK. www.cameronballoons.co.uk

Nadar (1820–1910) elevating photography to the height of art, published 1862 9litho), Daumier, Honore (1808-79)/Private Collection/The Stapleton Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library

Branson with Per in cabin @ Getty Images

Nazca lines @ Charlie & Josette Lenars/CORBIS

Lenormand's parachute @ Mary Evans Picture Library

Peasants attacking a balloon @ Mary Evans Picture Library

The death of Francois Pilatre de Rozier (1754-85) near Boulogne on 15th June 1785 after trying to cross the Channel in a Mongolfiere balloon (gouache on paper), French School, (18th century)/Louvre. Paris, France/Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library

The Flying Machine of Jean Pierre Blanchard (1753–1809) (coloured engraving) by Martinet, Francois Nicolas (fl. 1731-80)/The Bridgennan Art Library

Felix Nadar's Giant Balloon in Paris, c. 1863 (b/w photo), French Photographer, (19th century)/Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France/Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library

Giffard's airship @ Getty Images

The Hindenburg @ Getty Images

Breitling Orbiter 3 @ Cameron Balloons Ltd, Bristol, UK, www.cameronballoons.co.uk

Sir George Cayley's sketch of the Cayley Flyer. Courtesy of the Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)

Aerial Steam Carriage @ Science Museum/SSPL

Avion III, 'The Bat', designed by Clement Ader (1841–1925) at the Satory military camp. October 1987 (engraving) (b/w photo) French School, (19th century)/CNAM, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris/The Bridgeman Art Library

Otto Lilienthal @ Getty Images

Wing illustration @ Ruth Murray

Evolution of wing design @ Nasa

Wright brothers' kite @ Library of Congress — digital via/Science Faction/Corbis

Wright brothers' propellor @ SSPL via Getty Images

Curtiss in flight @ Corbis

Louis Bleriot @ Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

Helen Dutrieu (1877–1961) standing beside a plane, before 1914 (b/w photo) by French Photographer, (20th century), Private Collection/Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library

Red Baron with father @ Bettmann/CORBIS

Bessie Coleman © Getty Images

Florence Barnes @ Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS

Georgia 'Tiny' Broadwick @ Bettmann/CORBIS

Ormer Locklear @ Bertram/CORBIS

Guillamet and Mermoz @ Mary Evans/Rue des Archives/Tallandier

A giant Sikorsky biplane, one of which bombarded the Germans in East Prussia. @ HuIton Archive/Getty Images

Lindbergh and the Spirit of St Louis at Sandpoint Airfield. Seattle @ PEMCO — Webster & Stevens Collection; Museum of History and Industry, Seattle/COR BIS

Wiley Post @ Getty Images

Amelia Earhart @ Getty Images

Howard Hughes @ Bettmann/CORBIS

Hughes at the controls in the 'Spruce Goose' @ Bettmann/CORBIS

La Guerre Infernale @ Leonard de Selva/CORBIS

Japanese fire balloon. US army photo A3718 °C

The Coriolis effect @ Ruth Murray

The jet streams @ Ruth Murray

Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand @ News (UK) Ltd/Rex Features

Interior of an Avro Lancastrian. @ Science Museum/Science and Society

Interior of first class compartment of commercial passenger plane © Getty Images

Pan Am Boeing 377 @ Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

Juan Trippe © Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Dining passengers @ CORBIS

Pan American Airways System © Smithsonian Institution/Corbis London Airport (Croydon) in 1925 (sepia photo) by English Photographer, (20th century)/Private Collection/The Stapleton Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library

Freddie Laker @ Getty Images

Remembrance stamp — Berlin Airlift @ Getty Images

Berlin Airlift © Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Royal Flying Doctor Service @ Getty Images

Coanda's missile-aeroplane © aviation-images.com

Frank Whittle with turbojet engine @ Bettmann/CORBIS

Fracture in a Comet's fuselage © aviation-images.com

Mitsubishi Zero @ Roger Viollet/Getty Images

X-15 in a supersonic tunnel © NASA

Avro Vulcan © Popperfoto/Getty Images

Concorde prototype @ Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

TU-144LL @ NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (NASA-DFRC)

Ramjet model @ NASA/GRC

SkyIon cutaway @ Reaction Engines

Goddard and rocket at Roswell @ Bettmann/CORBIS

V-2 missile @ Science Museum/SSPL

Piccard and Kipfer's wicker-basket helmets @ Bettmann/CORBIS

Kittinger @ Time & Life Pictures

Goblin @ aviation-images.com

Chuck Yeager/Glamorous Glennis © Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

X-15 drops from B-52 @ NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (NASA-DFRC)

Joe Walker @ Bettmann/CORBIS

Pterodactyl Ascender@ aviation-images.com

Leo Valentin @ Getty Images

Daedalus @ NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (NASA-DFRC)

Paresev @ NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (NASA-DFRC)

Cierva C-30 @ Getty Images

Burt Rutan with model @ Burt Rutan

variEZE plane @ Courtesy of Burt Rutan

Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer @ Thierry Boccon-Gibod

Rotary Rocket @ Getty Images

Plaque placed on the moon @ Mary Evans Picture Library/INTERFOTO AGENTUR

@ Ruth Murray, based on a drawing by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

WhiteKnightOne and SpaceShipOne © Jim Koepnick

Transhab module @ Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

New Mexico Spaceport @ Jared Tarbell

Photo of Earth as seen by Brian Binnie @ Brian Binnie

DNA of flight @ Virgin Galactic