True Australian Air Stories
Gwynn-Jones, Terry
First Edition
AUSTRALIANS have a record of aviation successes out of all proportion to their small population. From the moment the Smith brothers landed their Vimy bomber in Darwin in 1919, Australians have created new records and blazed new trails in aviation. Sometimes their efforts received world acclaim, but all too often they were little known outside their own country.
The names of many Australians appeared among those of the great aviation pioneers, but many people overseas do not even know that Harry Hawker was an Australian. He and his contemporaries took to the air in the days when death was the constant compan-ion of every flyer, and took the chances which were the only way to progress in aviation.
For this book, Terry Gwynn-Jones has chosen a representative selection of stories of Australian aviators in order to show the qualities of the whole. Some are stories of success: others of magnificent failure. Some are of famous flyers: others of men and women now almost forgotten.
The hard luck of Battling Ray Parer is contrasted with the genius of Charles Kingsford Smith and the brilliant Sidney Cotton. The tragic circumstances ranged against Bill Lancaster are set against the hard-won eminence of Sir Hubert Wilkins. We are reminded of Bert Hinkler's pride of place in man's ascent towards safe flying and of the honours gained by the first Australian military pilots. There is a timely reminder that Australia had its own indomitable woman air pioneer... Mrs Harry Bonney, the first woman to fly solo to England.
The author gives new insights into some well-known stories and presents carefully-researched accounts of little-known events. There are tales of search and survival, of determination to overcome disasters, of the skill and daring which gave Australians a special kind of reputation äs aviators. The whole collection comprises an enthralling book for anyone interested in aviation and a proud record of Australian achievements in the air.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Australian aviatrix, Mrs 'Harry' Bonney
'Hawker's Down in mid-Atlantic!'
One man refused to give up the search
Back to base after thirty years
£9.13s. to Sydney...via a paddock
El Kut: Australian airmen first go to war
Bert Hinkler - Australia's forgotten pioneer?
For Bill Lancaster, help came… twenty-nine years too late!
First across the Pole
The magnificent gamble
On the forty-fourth day, they lay down to die
Who sabotaged the Blackburn Kangaroo?
Trail blazers in a Model T
A red eagle . . . falling
Aerial Russian roulette
'Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you "Wizard" Stone!'
Sir Francis Chichester, pioneer airman
Sidney Cotton - airman, inventor, adventurer
Bibliography
hardcover with dust jacket, large format
176 Seiten / pages
many photos
good condition
Australia - 1977 - Rigby
Art.Nr. 25478
