There are plenty of air sports. This book is my attempt to provide a resource-website guide for the entire realm of what people do in their pursuits of conquering air and space to fly freely.

Some people like to fly airplanes, helicopters and gliders.

There are airplane races just like there are car races.

Some people jump out of airplanes (skydiving), off cliffs (base jumping) or tied to a cord (bungee jumping). There are a few indoor skydiving centers where you float within a rush of air.

Some people drive remote-controlled airplanes known as drones or unmanned aerial vehicles. There is aerial photography with drones.

Some people use hot-air balloons and lighter-than-air vehicles which are also called blimps. There are hot-air balloon races.

Some people build their own planes and small helicopters.

Some people are inventing air cars, hovercraft and other aerial devices.

There are rocket jetpacks around where you fly around either over the water using a water stream and some advanced ones that use air.

Paragliding is when you’re pulled by a boat in a parachute-like device.

Hang-gliding is a flimsy glider like thing that you jump off a cliff or run down a hill with and hopefully glide around for a awhile.

There are other free air sports like sky-surfing, jumping out of an airplane with a surfboard attached to your feet.

Kiting, trapeze artist and trampolining are other free-air pursuits.

Some people have a rocket hobby, creating rockets to fly up in the air.

There is space tourism where you can go up in a planet far enough to see the Earth as a globe and experience the effects of weightlessness.

There are plenty of companies trying to invent new planes or spacecraft to travel around in space easily.

Some people are trying to create anti-gravity flying machines.

Many people have an interest in astronomy, looking up at the stars either with the naked eye or with telescopes. I list the websites of many telescope observatories here.

There are at least a thousand planetariums all over the world. I list the websites for most of them here.

People want to fly or at least feel the free sensation of traveling/ floating through the air unencumbered. Many also want to escape the confines of the planet to go into space where no one has ever gone before. This book is a good starting point to tell you what’s going on out there in these realms right now.

Try #797.55 at the library for air sports.

Be a Pilot

To become a pilot for your own personal reasons, look in your local phone book for flight schools or call small airports which don't handle much commercial traffic. Check the internet and aviation magazines for pilot school ads. Some colleges have aviation programs.

To become a commercial pilot, you can get started this way too or you can join the military for officer training (try to get into the ROTP plan at one of the government-run military academies) then if you pass all their stringent tests, you'll eventually get to fly either transport planes, fighter jets or helicopters.

Due to government regulations, pilot training is very rigorous and focused on safety. You have to pass certain standards like a driving test for a car before they'll give you a private pilot's license. The FAA calls pilot's licenses pilot's certificates.

A private pilot's license gives a pilot the right to fly a single-engine airplane with passengers if he or she wants under visual flight rules/ VFR which means you must have visibility of at least three miles and you can fly at night too.

Many people get a private license then use it to either rent a plane or fly their own plane. Some want to use it as a stepping stone to get a commercial certificate to fly for pay.

You need an airline transport certificate to fly an airliner.

You need a flight instructor certificate to teach others to fly.

There are a number of other ratings you need to fly in bad weather and t