Walter George Raymond Hinchliffe. Aviator
Melbourne: published by the author, 1969. Foolscap in original blue boards lettered "W.G.R. HINCHLIFFE", offset lithographic sheets from typescript, single sided leaves paginated as follows: [4], 380, xxx. Well preserved. Number seven from an unspecified but presumably very limited edition, and inscribed and signed on the title-page by the author, Mrs. Joan Humphreys.
Walter George Raymond Hinchliffe was born in 1894 and grew up in Liverpool. He abandoned a dentistry degree at university to become a First World War pilot and retired from the Royal Air Force in 1921 with the rank of Captain. Shortly after he joined the incipient Royal Dutch Airline Company (KLM) as their first pilot. Hinchliffe died during an early trans-Atlantic crossing in 1928, departing in adverse conditions despite meticulous training and preparation. His plane probably iced up and crashed into the ocean.
This rare self-published document was prepared by Hinchliffe's daughter and printed in Melbourne. It transcribes the flying logbooks of Walter Hinchliffe from mid 1916 through to March 1928. The final appendix of thirty leaves is the pilots weather log for some part of 1923. Item #2372
Price (AUD): $700.00