Kirjahaku

Since time immemorial ordinary people have flocked to gaze upon daring feats in the hope of witnessing some death-defying or even death-inducing act. Aeronautics was turned into a public spectacle and exploited financially from its very beginning and thus it has remained ever since. The book sets out to elaborate upon those concepts in the East Midlands, and demonstrates that the region is truly representative of the progress of general aviation in this country as a whole over two centuries. The history covers balloons for shows and sports, the pre-First World War period, women aviators, Sir Alan Cobham, through to private and small air taxi flying operations, Amy Johnson, and continuing up to the present day. Balloons, Bleriots and Barnstormers enables the reader to feel the euphoria and frustrations of the flyers, and experience the same excitement as the people who actually witnessed their efforts.

Danger and excitement; courage and selflessness and gripping stories of life and death in the air: Lady Luck took these heady ingredients and mixed them into the lethal cocktail that is military flying in peace and war. From First World War biplanes to twenty-first-century fast jets, mid-air collisions and many other crashes, hundreds of airmen from all corners of the world left their mark - quite literally - on the landscape and collective memory of the east of England. Featuring a wealth of previously unpublished photographs and with original research and crew correspondence, Dying to Fly ensures these airmen cease simply to be names carved in cold memorial stone or entries in some dusty, long-forgotten documents, and pays tribute to their passing by bringing their courage and human-interest stories into light of day to be remembered with respect.

What turns an ordinary man into an extraordinary one? The answer lies in the stories of six teenage volunteers for Second World War aircrew who exchanged school uniform for Air Force Blue and took a giant step into the unknown. Based on original research from flying log books, diaries and family archives, this collection of true tales describes the men’s training for those coveted ‘Wings’; the nervous excitement of that first sortie over enemy territory; and flying into the hell of an enemy flak barrage and fighters. From the skies over Europe to jungles and deserts, all endured hardship, adventure and danger. They experienced action under enemy fire, wounds, burns and crash-landings, escape and evasion in occupied territory, and the privations of life as a POW. Seventy years on and these brushes with death are by any measure hair-raising encounters that turned adolescents into men – some of whom survived the war, while others paid the ultimate price.

The action-packed flying career of aeronaut Charles Green (1785-1870), a working-class Londoner in the infancy of aviation, who defied death in a career of 35 years and over 500 balloon flights to make a unique contribution to world aeronautical history. His decision, in 1821, to use domestic coal-gas to inflate balloons ran completely contrary to perceived wisdom, but his success in doing so revolutionised flying for the remainder of the Georgian and Victorian eras. His innovation set the direction of aeronautics for the next 80 years - until the Wright brothers changed its course again. Inventor, innovative balloon constructor, shrewd businessman, flamboyant showman and a skilled and courageous pilot, he was the first to put into practice the concept of public air travel. Charles liked a ‘tipple’ in the air - but never compromised safety - and made sure his passengers enjoyed his in-flight champagne hospitality. This earned him not only the status of a national treasure – whose very name was a by-word for all things aeronautic - but also ensured he became an international legend in his own lifetime.

This is the fascinating true story behind one of the key reasons that RAF Fighter Command saw such success in the Second World War and emerged victorious from the Battle of Britain – the incredible training school that transformed young men from inexperienced pilots into some of the finest airmen in the world. From peacetime Armament Practice Camp, to fighter Operational Training Unit, to Central Gunnery School, this is the story of how, between 1926 and 1946, the RAF developed and implemented a world-beating training system. This allowed the RAF to have total faith in the men tasked with combatting the Nazi threat from the air, and School of Aces tells the astonishing story of the station through a wealth of individual stories – with famous names, drama, courage and pathos a-plenty – recalling how pilots, air gunners and ground crew came to be at RAF Sutton Bridge, what life was like for them there and what happened to them afterwards. Prior to and during the Battles of France and Britain, RAF Sutton Bridge played a vital role in the British success by creating, in a remarkably short time, an effective training programme for potential fighter pilots. It then turned out 494 Hurricane pilots with such rapidity that summer that no fewer than 390 graduates flew as part of that illustrious band of men known forever as 'The Few'.

This is the fascinating true story behind one of the key reasons that RAF Fighter Command saw such success in the Second World War and emerged victorious from the Battle of Britain – the incredible training school that transformed young men from inexperienced pilots into some of the finest airmen in the world. From peacetime Armament Practice Camp, to fighter Operational Training Unit, to Central Gunnery School, this is the story of how, between 1926 and 1946, the RAF developed and implemented a world-beating training system. This allowed the RAF to have total faith in the men tasked with combatting the Nazi threat from the air, and School of Aces tells the astonishing story of the station through a wealth of individual stories – with famous names, drama, courage and pathos a-plenty – recalling how pilots, air gunners and ground crew came to be at RAF Sutton Bridge, what life was like for them there and what happened to them afterwards. Prior to and during the Battles of France and Britain, RAF Sutton Bridge played a vital role in the British success by creating, in a remarkably short time, an effective training programme for potential fighter pilots. It then turned out 494 Hurricane pilots with such rapidity that summer that no fewer than 390 graduates flew as part of that illustrious band of men known forever as 'The Few'.

How did the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) ‘cavalry of the air’ transform into the strategic RAF of the Cold War? The flying lives of these three pilots combine across the years to illustrate how it happened. Trained on Bristol Boxkites in 1912, Major Leonard Dawes helped shape the RFC in its infancy. Posted to France with BE2s, he saw action at the birth of battlefield reconnaissance and air fighting, then activated many new squadrons during the First World War. Joining the RAF in 1923, Group Captain Dickie Barwell became a fighter pilot and respected leader of men. As a Hurricane squadron commander, he routed the first major Luftwaffe air attack of the Second World War and flew with Bader’s Wing in the Battle of Britain. While commanding RAF Biggin Hill, he flew combat operations over France before his death in a friendly-fire incident in 1942. Squadron Leader Brian Fern learned to fly at Ponca City, Oklahoma, in 1942, then trained hundreds of RAF bomber pilots during the Second World War. Post-war tours on Canberra bombers and spy flights in Chipmunks were followed by selection to the elite Valiant bomber force, where he became a leading exponent of in-flight refuelling, which finally gave the RAF its global reach. Combining these three stories into a narrative that explores the rise of the RAF through an era of dazzling technological breakthroughs and ever-changing operational requirements, Alastair Goodrum tells the story of a journey through adversity to the stars.

Everyone loves adventure, mystery and the notion of celebrity and this book combines all of these with new unpublished material, supported by high quality previously unpublished images. Aviation history is full of evocative stories about the evolution of aeroplanes; flying and the perils of air travel and there are many ways of looking at these. The theme of this book is to recall some of those perils through the eyes of twenty-three internationally-famous celebrity air travellers between 1919 and 2020. What brings them all together here is that, as well as presenting the personalities, the stories showcase aeroplanes from the golden age of biplanes to helicopters, biz-jets and airliners. They also illustrate the fallibility of people and technology, while giving a flavour of the social progress of air transport over the past 100 years. Sadly, the climax of these particular stories culminates in air crashes that took the lives of the celebrities involved. While the final selection of the stars might be open to debate, the breadth of celebrity representation in these stories is very wide, being drawn from the fields of aeronautics; cinema; exploration; fashion; music; politics and sport. Mysteries and myths have grown up around some of these incidents and while some of these can be debunked, others will pose unanswered questions. All, though, will demonstrate that Fame and Fortune alone are no protection from Fate.