A fascinating career in military aviation and commercial aviation spanning 47 years. This book could be the story of many a pilot through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – Highly Recommended.
NAME: A Pilot's Remarkable Story During The Golden Era Of British Aviation, Forty-Seven Years Aloft, From Cold War Fighters & Flying the PM To Commercial Jets FILE: R2966 AUTHOR: Brian Burdett PUBLISHER: Pen and Sword, Air World BINDING: hard back PRICE: £25.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Cold War, Air Cadets, PPL, RAF Wings, Commercial Airline Pilot, first generation jet fighters, biplanes, second generation jet fighters
ISBN: 1-52675-303-0
IMAGE: B2966.jpg BUYNOW: tinyurl.com/yyfsf7sr LINKS: DESCRIPTION: A fascinating career in military aviation and commercial aviation spanning 47 years. This book could be the story of many a pilot through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – Highly Recommended. The author was a schoolboy who only wanted to fly. He joined the Air Cadets, learned to fly, gained his PPL and joined the RAF. He then began a career that offered three choices later on, to leave flying for an RAF desk job, leave flying completely, become an airline pilot. In his case he started on jet fighters, moved to Transport Command and then turned to commercial flying. In some 47 years, he clocked up 22,500 hours on a very interesting mix of aircraft. His engaging text is supported by photo-plate sections, one of full colour images. As a cadet, he started on Tiger Moth biplanes. At Cranwell graduated from the Percival Provost to de Havilland Vampires which spanned the development period of WWII and the immediate post war years but continued on. The Provost was in time re-engineered to create the jet Provost. Many readers who have heard or seen the jet Provost, which was generally known as the Provost, will be unaware of the prop plane Provost predecessor which was introduced as an advanced trainer. The Vampire was the second jet to enter RAF service, arriving just too late to see WWII action. From the Vampire, the author eventually flew the Hunter which many claim as the last true pilot's fighter aircraft. Having arrived at a frontline Cold War jet fighter squadron, most pilots would have fought tooth and nail to stay with fast jet combat aircraft. The author made a mid career change to the Transport Command, becoming the youngest four-jet captain in the world. He flew VIPs in the RAF's VC10, including one Prime Minister, on some interesting flights. From the RAF, he moved via training at Cranfield to commercial flying on a range of four-jet airliners, concluding his career in civil aviation as captain of an A340. This is a particularly interesting story with a fascinating range of aircraft. It is told well and covers what is a unique range of topics.