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Author: Ann Blainey Publisher: Black Inc. ISBN: 1743820712 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 442
Book Description
A revealing portrait of a brilliant and troubled figure – a daredevil of the sky Charles Kingsford Smith was the most commanding flyer of the golden age of aviation. In three short years, he broke records with his astounding and daring voyages: the first trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia, the first circumnavigation around the equator, the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland. He did it all with such courage, modesty and charm that Australia and the world fell in love with him. He became a national hero, ‘Our Smithy’. Yet his achievements belied a traumatic past. He had witnessed the horror of World War I – first as a soldier at Gallipoli, later as a combat pilot with the Royal Flying Corps – and, like so many of his generation, he bore physical and emotional scars. The public saw the derring-do; only those close to him knew the anxious man who pushed himself to the edge of health and sanity. In November 1935, Kingsford Smith’s plane crashed and he was lost at sea near Burma, his body never to be recovered. This brilliant work from one of Australia’s foremost biographers reveals the complicated, tumultuous life of a fascinating figure, who pursued his obsession to the greatest heights of fame and catastrophe Ann Blainey is the author of the acclaimed I Am Melba, which won the 2009 National Biography Award and was the most popular book in the 2009 State Library of Victoria Summer Reads program. Her other books include biographies of Leigh Hunt and the Kemble sisters. ‘Brilliant ... Blainey’s fascinating book focuses on the inner as well as the outer man. While Smithy’s career highlights may be well known, his ambiguous relationship with fame, his drinking, and his doubts and fears were not. In this beautifully written, scrupulously researched and meticulously indexed work, Blainey has filled this gap to perfection.’ —Ross Fitzgerald, The Weekend Australian 'Crisply written ... Even people not particularly interested in the feats of aviators will find this book an engrossing read.' —Jim Davidson, The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Blainey is a pleasure to read and this biography is superbly researched’ —Michael McGirr, Australian Book Review
Author: Ann Blainey Publisher: Black Inc. ISBN: 1743820712 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 442
Book Description
A revealing portrait of a brilliant and troubled figure – a daredevil of the sky Charles Kingsford Smith was the most commanding flyer of the golden age of aviation. In three short years, he broke records with his astounding and daring voyages: the first trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia, the first circumnavigation around the equator, the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland. He did it all with such courage, modesty and charm that Australia and the world fell in love with him. He became a national hero, ‘Our Smithy’. Yet his achievements belied a traumatic past. He had witnessed the horror of World War I – first as a soldier at Gallipoli, later as a combat pilot with the Royal Flying Corps – and, like so many of his generation, he bore physical and emotional scars. The public saw the derring-do; only those close to him knew the anxious man who pushed himself to the edge of health and sanity. In November 1935, Kingsford Smith’s plane crashed and he was lost at sea near Burma, his body never to be recovered. This brilliant work from one of Australia’s foremost biographers reveals the complicated, tumultuous life of a fascinating figure, who pursued his obsession to the greatest heights of fame and catastrophe Ann Blainey is the author of the acclaimed I Am Melba, which won the 2009 National Biography Award and was the most popular book in the 2009 State Library of Victoria Summer Reads program. Her other books include biographies of Leigh Hunt and the Kemble sisters. ‘Brilliant ... Blainey’s fascinating book focuses on the inner as well as the outer man. While Smithy’s career highlights may be well known, his ambiguous relationship with fame, his drinking, and his doubts and fears were not. In this beautifully written, scrupulously researched and meticulously indexed work, Blainey has filled this gap to perfection.’ —Ross Fitzgerald, The Weekend Australian 'Crisply written ... Even people not particularly interested in the feats of aviators will find this book an engrossing read.' —Jim Davidson, The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Blainey is a pleasure to read and this biography is superbly researched’ —Michael McGirr, Australian Book Review
Author: Ian Mackersey Publisher: Little Brown GBR ISBN: 9780751526561 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 454
Book Description
During his brief 38 years of life, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935) was one of the most celebrated public idols in history, becoming for a few years in the late 20s and early 30s a legend across the world for his brilliance as a pilot and his charismatic style among the pioneers of long-distance flying. The first person to fly an aircraft across the Pacific from America to Australia (in 1928) he broke many solo flying records, and this brought him a status greater than any modern astronaut - a crowd of 300,000 greeted him in Sydney. But the price of his heroism was high and the demands for celebrity and a messy private life ended in tragedy off the coast of Burma in 1935 in an attempt to fly from England to Australia. This biography explores his life and flying career.
Author: Michael Molkentin Publisher: National Library Australia ISBN: 064227746X Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 224
Book Description
In 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm made the first trans-Pacific flight in the Southern Cross - an aircraft constructed largely of wood and fabric. They made the trip from Oakland, California, in nine days, during which they faced electrical storms, torrential rain, equipment failure, and fuel shortages. Navigational aids were primitive - contact with the outside world was by Morse code only - and safety measures were non-existent. After many close calls, they triumphantly landed in Brisbane, where a crowd of 15,000 welcomed them as heroes. Throughout this extraordinary journey, Ulm kept a logbook in which he recorded his raw impressions of the flight. Using Ulm's logbook, plus contemporary newspaper accounts and official documents, Flying the Southern Cross tells the gripping tale of this history-making flight, and the aviators who made it happen.
Author: Rick Searle Publisher: Allen & Unwin ISBN: 1760636630 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 342
Book Description
Charles Ulm and Charles Kingsford Smith were two of the most important pioneers of Australian aviation. Together they succeeded in a number of record-breaking flights that made them instant celebrities around the world, notably the first ever trans-Pacific flight, then setting up Australian National Airways in late 1928. Smithy was the face of the airline, happier in the cockpit or in front of an audience than in the boardroom; Ulm was in his element as managing director. Smithy had the charisma and public acclaim, Ulm the tenacity and organisational skills. In 1932, Kingsford Smith received a knighthood for his services to flying; Ulm did not. Setbacks and tragedies followed, as Ulm tried to develop the embryonic Australian airline industry. ANA was at first successful, but a catastrophic crash and the increasing bite of the Great Depression forced it into bankruptcy in 1933. Desperate to drum up support for a new airline, Ulm's final flight was meant to demonstrate the potential for a regular trans-Pacific passenger service. Somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii his plane, Stella Australis, disappeared. No trace of the plane or crew was ever found. In the years since his death, attention has focused more and more on Smithy, leaving Ulm neglected and overshadowed. In this essential biography, Rick Searle shows that while Ulm lacked Smithy's prowess as an aviator, he was his superior as a visionary, and a driving force behind the growth of modern global air travel. His untimely death robbed Australia of a huge talent.
Author: Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith Publisher: ISBN: Category : Aeronautics Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
MS Acc12.129 comprises papers relating to Charles Kingsford-Smith, including five photographs of attendees to the Kingsford Smith 60th Anniversary Commemorative Dinner on 31 May 1988, Oakland, California (1 folder).
Author: Peter Fitzsimons Publisher: ISBN: 9781460751909 Category : Aeronautics Languages : en Pages : 736
Book Description
The must-read story of the boy from Brisbane who became a wartime hero and aviation trailblazer. In an action-packed life, the indomitable 'Smithy' went from fighting as a soldier amid the carnage of Gallipoli and the Western Front to taking to the skies against the likes of the Red Baron - for which he won the Military Cross for gallantry - before becoming the greatest peacetime aviator of his generation. Along with Charles Ulm, he was the first to conquer the Pacific by air, the first to fly across the Tasman Sea, the fastest to fly from England to Australia, and the first pilot to circumnavigate the globe by crossing the equator. With typical flair, FitzSimons also tells the story of several breakthroughs, some made in Australia, which laid the foundation for the Wright brothers' success in 1903; the first flight across the Channel in 1908; Germany's Red Baron terrorising the Allies in 1917-18, before being shot down by an Australian; Ross and Keith Smith's first flight from England to Australia in 1919; the formation of Qantas in 1921; Lindbergh's stunning vault between America and Europe in 1927; the Great Centenary Air Race; the loss of the Southern Cloud; the saga of Bert Hinkler and much, much more... 'Undoubtedly the best aviation book I have ever read.' Dick Smith
Author: Ann Blainey
Author: Ann Blainey
Author: Charles Kingsford Smith
Author: Ian Mackersey
Author: Michael Molkentin![Charles Kingsford Smith. [With a titlepage bearing the imprint: Oxford University Press: Melbourne, 1962. With illustrations, including a portrait.]. PDF](https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/dCpQMwEACAAJ?fife=w80-h100)
Author: Frederick HOWARD (Novelist)
Author: Pedr Davis
Author: Rick Searle
Author: Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith
Author: Ian Mackersey
Author: Peter Fitzsimons