What about the tale of Man flight without that of the space adventure ?
Truly linked to the legendary flights of a Bleriot, a Lindberg or
les aventuriers de l'aeropostale, the space flight program bear the foot print of our legendary heroes: each step still stand on the pioneering side.
Columbia was a disaster that still have much to tell on that. You might hve some interest watching this 50+ min documentary of her last flight...
PS: regarding Alpha's post on the Mosquito, one of my best read on that subject was this one :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Flyer-...ref=pd_sim_b_2
Highly recommended!