Leo Opdycke is an explorer of aviation history. With his founding in 1961 of World War I Aeroplanes and, in 1987, of Skyways magazines, he built an international community of devotees to early flight who exchanged information and insights on design, engineering, and historical context. But their love of aircraft went beyond the printed page with many building and flying historically accurate planes, as Opdycke did with his Bristol Scout (featuring an original Le Rhône rotary engine), now housed in the Royal Air Force Museum in Yeovilton, in England. His 1999 book, French Aeroplanes Before the Great War, featured photos from the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace and further established his place as an historian of early flight.