Naval aviation beyond the popular story

Historical evidence can diverge from the convenient stories later generations tell about it. General histories often repeat a consensus outside the author's speciality, even when specialists know that the accepted framing is incomplete. Naval aviation is especially vulnerable to two opposite simplifications: that it barely existed before the Second World War, or that its later dominance should have been obvious from the beginning. The opening asks viewers to judge aircraft by the missions and capabilities available at the time rather than by hindsight.