The FAA has certification rules that apply to all aircraft except military aircraft, which are totally different in nature. I think your field is a bit broad in nature and you may want to pick a time frame in years to work with.
The government started regulating aircraft in 1927, with the first change in 1938 and a big change in 1958 when the old Civil Air Regulations were changed to the Federal Aviation Regulations. In between each of the years were major changes in performance rules. If I might suggest you start with Charles Taylor the engine builder for the Wright Flyer now there is a real story and work forward from there to the turbo super charged engines of the 40’s. Piston engine could not produce enough power and in the 50’s turbine took over pushing the envelope.
One site that may assist you is
www.aerospaceweb.org lots of engineer data in layman terms you can even ask questions and real rocket scientists will answer you back. Also check out the
www.faa.gov and look under history in the search engine.
Denny of Oakland