This book is a reference publication dedicated to the history of the development of aircraft. It contains a huge amount of documentary facts and details about historical records, events and achievements in the field of aviation. The book is richly illustrated with archival photographic documents and is of great interest both to specialists and to a wide range of readers interested in the history of aviation and the prospects for the development of aircraft. In a short period of time, the book has already gone through 6 editions, which indicates the continued interest of readers in aviation and related problems. The book is published in Russian for the first time.