Does anyone out there know of a way to earn a degree in aviation history--preferably an on line course?

I'd like to earn a degree some day but I'd like to study something I really enjoy.

Thanks,

Jim

Thanks eno,

That is a bummer!  Maybe there's not much of a demand for it.

Jim

<soap box mode on>
If you are interested in aviation history, get a degree in HISTORY.  Even if you are currently just an amateur aviation historian, the more you learn about aviation history, the more you learn about history in general.

Many times I have been told that I should be a history professor, but simply knowing facts is not the same thing as a) being able to communicate them in an interesting manner, or b) knowing history.

Take an example - naval aviation.  In the US, naval aviation in its infancy was simply considered to be "eyes and ears" of the fleet.  The early philosophy was that airplanes were to spot the enemy's ships and direct the fleet to them to engage them.  A secondary "job" would be to deny the enemy's spotting planes their purpose.  Fortunately, a few visionaries conceived of a more purposeful role for naval aviation.

Those are facts.  But WHY was the naval establishment so firm on battleships, cruisers, etc. as the backbone of a fighting force?  Could they not see that aviation offered the way to project this force long distance from the fleet?  Let's study the battleship.  Aahhhh Jutland (WW1, 1915), the grandest of all battleship v battleship battles.  And even then, the British lost more ships than the Germans, but still won.  Then study WHY the British suffered more, the design philosophies of both the British and the Germans, and then, the people behind the decisions, what motivated them?

But wait, weren't we talking about the development of naval aviation?  You really can't fully discuss naval aviation without a knowledge of battleships, which leads into the study of the people and the times in which the aviation developments happened.

Churchill's embracing the RAF ("the few")... well remember, was this the same Churchill that propulsed a somewhat ill-conceived venture in WW1 called Gallipoli?  (after he was canned as First Lord of the Admiralty, he did a good job in the defense of Brussels (or was in Antwerp)?).

It's almost impossible to separate AVIATION history from HISTORY.  (eg. the cancellations of the TSR-2 and AVRO Canada CF-105 Arrow are two "recent" aviation events that cannot be discussed without including the events of the time.

So, the study of aviation HISTORY is inseparable from the study of HISTORY.

Put it another way, you go to school to learn HOW to become a historian, but once you ARE one, you specialize in aviation history.

<soap box mode off>

Quote:

No offence, but dont be a pussy.
Go to a real University and study hard and get that Degree.
U can major in Military History and specialise in Aviation.
This could lead somewhere for you ....

A.