A Time to Fly

The modern traveller who checks in at an airport departure lounge to be flown in armchair comfort from one part of the globe to another, probably never gives a thought to how extraordinary the idea of air travel seemed only 60 years ago. One man played a greater part than any other in convincing world opinion that flying could - and would - become the accepted means of travelling long distances. His name was Alan Cobham. 60 years after one of his most spectacular stunts to persuade a doubting world, his memoirs are being re-issued. Part crusader, part showman, and endowed with not only charm and luck but also enormous energy, throughout his life he was a pioneer. Whether he was flying to South Africa or Australia or taking thousands of ordinary men and women for their first flight at one of his National Aviation Day displays, or exploring the practical possibilities of refuelling aircraft in flight, Cobham was a man who gave everything he had to the one idea which resulted in the universal acceptance of the aeroplane for civilian use.
The book recalls the days of open cockpits with the wind screaming past fragile wings hour after hour; of dangerous landings on mud or grass in countries where no plane had been before; of aviation's heroic age; full of the exhilaration and drama of striving for what was deemed impossible.