The Greatest Air Race by Nelson Eustis

The Greatest Air Race

England – Australia 1919

by Nelson Eustis

Rigby, 1969, [First Edition], ISBN 9312650193799, black and white photographic plates, illustrated endpapers (maps), hardcover, dustjacket

Near Fine Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, no inscriptions, dustjacket shows minor edge and shelf wear with minor rubbing to edges and corners (see photographs)

“It was only sixteen years since the first aeroplane flight, and the only aircraft available were flimsy, cranky machines.  They had to be flown through 11,000 miles of stormy sky, over jungles, deserts, mountains, and oceans.  Airfields were few and far between.  Navigational aids were almost non-existent.  For much of the way, the airmen would be pioneers, flying over territories which had never heard the drone of aircraft engines.  But these challenges were eagerly accepted by a number of young officers of the Australian Flying Corps, the only Dominion air force to fight in World War I.  Their problems began before they could even get off the ground, because the every idea of the flight seemed so fantastic that some of them found it hard to obtain financial backing.  Eventually six aircraft left England, and there was a French challenger, Etienne Poulet, who was not an official entrant but who at one time seemed likely to win the race.  For the first time, this book gives a complete account of the race….”