Australia and Back
London: A. & C. Black, 1926. Octavo, blue cloth, spine printed with black lettering, cover printed with black illustration, [iv], 124 pp., frontispiece, front endpaper illustrated with a black-and-white map, 20 black-and-white plates included. Spine ends and corners of covers bumped and rubbed, foxing on inside of back cover, light foxing on edges of leaves, small black Berkelouw Bookdealers sticker on the inside lower edge of the front cover; otherwise a very good copy. First edition. An account by famous long-distance aviation pioneer Sir Alan Cobham of his landmark flight from England to Australia. On 30th of June 1926, Cobham, then a test pilot for the de Havilland Aircraft Company, set off in his adapted de Havilland DH.50 by way of Basra, Rangoon, Port Darwin and Sydney, arriving in Melbourne where a crowd of what he estimated to be 150,000 people greeted him. However, the successful outbound flight was marred by the untimely death of his engineer, Arthur Elliot, who was killed by a shot fired from the ground shortly after leaving Baghdad. Despite this, Cobham took the return flight home over the same route and arrived safely in England. He was knighted the same year. In this engaging memoir, Sir Cobham recounts these details and much more. Item #4492
Price (AUD): $150.00