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AIR ATLANTIC: A History of Transatlantic Flying by Alan Wykes

AIR ATLANTIC: A History of Transatlantic Flying

By

Pub Date: Dec. 5th, 1968
Publisher: David White

Just why this highly particularized, quite sophisticated chronicle--British in back-ground and outlook--is being presented here as a juvenile is bard to understand; the combination of anecdotes, excerpts and critique is geared primarily to mature enthusiasts. Although it covers notable flights from the 1910 failure of the airship America (putatively logged) to the inauguration of Atlantic Ferry Service early during World War II--with a resume of runs since--it is not a comprehensive survey; neither is it confined to the Atlantic route. Stressing competition with the United States and the often ""benighted state of civil aviation in Britain,"" it comes closest to being a review of the latter. There are many sharp passages--on adulation of Lindbergh as leading to ""the cult of the soloist,"" on the sensory appeal of airship travel, on British vs. American names for planes--but youngsters are likely to find Hood's Skyway Round the World (990, J-362) more structured to their needs and more than adequate for information.