Qantas Rising
The Autobiography of the Flying Fysh
Fysh, Hudson
Qantas Rising is really the story of two young ex-servicemen who had nothing to do after World War I, so they founded one of the world's great airlines. One of the servicemen was the Australian Flying Corps pilot Hudson Fysh; the other was P. J. MC Ginness; and two Queensland graziers who joined them with their money and energy were Fergus McMaster and Ainslie Templeton. The airline was Qantas.
Sir Hudson Fysh's own career is of course inseparable from that of Qantas. So first we have his boyhood in Tasmania; then his quite considerable adventures with the Light Horse at Gallipoli and in Palestine; then his first tentative wing-flaps as a war-time observer and pilot, a period enlivened both by the enemy and by the unpredictability of the flying-machines of the time.
Then, on his return to Australia, there is his epic journey by Tin Lizzie across the untravelled deserts and creeks of the Northern Territory in search of suitable landing sites for Ross Smith who was about to make his historic first flight from England to Australia; and then, once more in the air himself, after Qantas had been founded over a hotel table in Brisbane, barnstorming around outback Queensland to keep the infant Company solvent.
Then - with stories of desperate battles against rival companies to secure vital contracts; with the story of the Flying Doctor; with high political and commercial negotiations; with romance and adventure at all times because flying is flying, and these were the pioneering days - there is the history of Qantas up to 1934. (It is pro-posed to continue the history of Qantas Empire Airways to modern times in a projected second volume.) Sir Hudson Fysh writes pleasantly and informally, and readers will enjoy Qantas Rising as much for its anecdotes of the author's life and its stories of adventure in the air as for its important contribution to Australian history.
Hardcover with dust jacket
296 Seiten / pages
many photos
very good condition, some small tears to dust jacket, wrapped in mylar cover
London - Sydney - Melburne - 1966 - Angus & Robertson Ltd
Art.Nr. 15837
