Gliding and Soaring
London: Alliance Press Limited, Circa 1942. Octavo, light-blue cloth, spine printed with black lettering, 118 pp., two additional leaves at back of publisher's advertising, illustrated throughout with black-and-white diagrams, four black-and-white photographs included. Spine ends bumped and slightly rubbed, very light wear on covers, slight split of paste-down endpaper inside front cover where cover meets spine but holding firm, top-right corner of front free endpaper is torn without loss of text; otherwise a very good copy with remarkably clean and crisp leaves for a publication of this period. First edition. During World War Two, internationally known Czech gliding expert Major A. E. Sitek and writer and aeronautics expert Flight Lieutenant Vernon Blunt combined their considerable knowledge to create this slim but highly informative volume on gliding and soaring. At the time, glider aircraft was being utilised to an unprecedented degree on the battlefield, with some being developed into deadly instruments of war. Sitek and Blunt offer a brief history of gliders, detail the technology behind the aircraft and discuss the use of gliders in both war and peace time.
Inserted loosely in this volume is the front flap of the dust-jacket that provides a brief biography of each of the book's authors. Item #4890
Price (AUD): $70.00