AUSTRALIA and BACK

AUSTRALIA and BACK

(3oth June  ~ 1st October 1926)

Laid in card signed by Sir Alan Cobham

A & C Black First edition 1926.  124 pages and lots of photographs. Front map endpapers, portrait frontispiece, 

Very Good condition hardback book, exceptionally well preserved for a 99-year-old book. Pictorial covers, no dustjacket. A very nice copy.

Almost exactly 99 years ago, Alan Cobham made a pioneering flight to Australia and back. This is his account complete with a signed card.

Sir Alan Cobham was a pioneer British aviator who did more than anyone else to popularise aviation and air travel during the twenties and thirties. He became the first person to fly from England to Australia and back in his de Havilland D.H. 50J biplane with specially constructed floats.

He began his flight in Rochester, England on 30 June 1926. The outward journey had spanned 47 days and over 13,000 miles when he reached Melbourne, Australia on 15 August 1926. On 29 August 1926 he left for Westminster, London landing on the River Thames 34 days later on 1 October 1926.

After landing he personally delivered a petition to Parliament about the benefits and importance of civil aviation to the nation. Alan Cobham received a knighthood for this pioneering journey.

A lovely copy of this book with an excellent undedicated signed card laid in.