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I've been interested in doing a highly illustrated book where the American Civil War (1861-65) had a couple of hundred heavier than air combat aircraft available on both sides along with a substantial number of combat balloons and battle blimps.
Given that the time between the run up to the Civil War (1855-60) and the flight of the Wright Brothers (1903) was not all that great and that lots of heavier than air combat aircraft were available in World War One only a little more than a decade after the Wright brothers, are there any kind of scenarios that allow for availability in 1861?