| Description |
208 pages, 9 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, facsimiles, 1port ; 23cm |
| Summary |
The taste for adventure which shaped Francis Chichester's life was evident from an early age. Born at Barnstaple in North Devon in 1901, he emigrated to New Zealand before he was twenty, and during the years 1919 to 1929 he set up land and timber enterprises, and a pioneer aviation company. After returning to England in 1929 to learn to fly, he decided to pilot his Gipsy Moth aircraft to Australia - after a mere five months' training. This story is superbly retold in Solo to Sydney, the first of a series of highly successful books. His flying exploits continued. In 1931 he became the first holder of the converted Johnson Memorial Trophy for the first time solo east-west crossing of the Tasman Sea, and he later made the first solo long-distance flight in a seaplane (New Zealand to Japan). The key to his success lay with the advanced navigation procedures he had devised, adn during the War he was able to put this experience at the disposal of the Air Ministry. Many of his innovations were adopted by the RAF and he became the Chief Navigation Instructor of the Empire Flying School. His interest in navigation continued after the war when he started his own map and guide business, but his energies were now devoted to sailing rather than flying. Calling his boats Gipsy Moth after the aeroplane, Chichester rapidly established a formidable reputation in ocean racing after successes that matched his pre-war flying achievements These included winning the first solo Trans-Atlantic race in record time, for which he was made Yachtsman of the Year. Further record-breaking voyages followed, but his best remembered exploit was the single-handed circumnavigation of the world in 1966-67. For this he received a knighthood, conferred by the Queen at Greenwich using the sword given to Sir Francis Drake by Elizabeth I. Numerous honours followed, but perhaps the most significant was the Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal, which put Chichester in the illustrious company of Stanley, Nansen, Scott, Shackleton, Peary and Fuchs - the only previous recipients of the award. This was entirely deserved, for as the President of the Institute of Navigation said, Chichester was 'the greatest single-handed navigator of the age.' Sir Francis Chichester died in 1972, but Gipsy Moth IV is now preserved and open to the public at Greenwich, a fitting tribute to the last great English adventurer. (Inside cover) |
| Notes |
Flights to Australia by aircraft,. 1930 - Personal observations (BNB/PRECIS) |
| Subject |
Chichester, Francis, Sir, 1901-1972.
|
|
Flights around the world.
|
| LC no. |
bnb85177254 |
| ISBN |
0851772544 |
|
