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Titles now available in paperback with free UK delivery |
LOCATION: HOME/MORE INFORMATION
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 | | | Airship Pilot Number 28 | | Genre: Biography | | Author: Captain T.B. Williams AFC |
Paperback | | ISBN: 978-0-9562523-2-6 | | Format: 13 by 20 cm | | Pages: 222 | | Paperback | RRP: £6.99 | Discount Price: £6.29 |  |
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Ebook | | File format: .pdf (Adobe acrobat - Portable Document Format) | | Format: 6 by 9 inches (15 by 23 cm) | | Pages: 222 | | PDF file size: 4.22Mb | | EBook | | £1.99 | |
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Sample Text |
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Synopsis |
A republication of this classic aeronautical autobiography, which originally appeared in 1974, of Captain Williams' more than 50 year's experiences in Balloons and Airships. As a pioneer in this field in 1916 he obtained the Airships pilot's licence No 28 which gives the title to the book. With the First World War at its height, he was posted to Anglesey to a unit flying non rigid airships over the Irish Sea to guard convoys of ships heading for Liverpool against submarines. This was a dangerous occupation when supported by a large gas bag of hydrogen which was liable to catch fire if punctured by a bullet, and he received an Air Force Cross for his efforts.
In 1918 he was seconded to be the First Officer of the much decorated crew who flew the Airship SR1 from Italy to England; the longest flight achieved for some years. With the war's end he was part of an ill-fated expedition to use Airships in the seal fisheries of Newfoundland. Returning to England he was heavily involved in the burgeoning Airship industry until its demise with the crash of the R101. Many years later, with the development of the modern recreational Hot Air Balloon, he became involved again in his first love, and was of considerable use to the pioneers with his experience of actually having flown these things before.
The chapters on the present and Future of airships, written in the early 1970s, now seem rather quaint.
Complete with 80 contemporary photographs and drawings. |
Biography |
They don't make them like this any more. Captain T. B. Williams, or Bill to his aviation friends, led a very varied life, being at one time or another, a shipping clerk, Airship Pilot, Lumberjack and trapper, Accountant, Major in the Home Guard, Farmer, Antique Teapot collector and repairer. He had a commission in the Navy when he first went flying, in the First World War, which was converted to one in the RAF when that was formed. Being, later, an officer in the Home Guard he claimed to be the first person to hold three commissions in different services. He once said that when he took up anything he went into it completely – all arms and legs.
This was certainly true of his many interests, but flying, particularly in Balloons and Airships, was his first love. With the reintroduction of the Hot Air Balloons in the 1960s and 70s he had the opportunity to take to the air again and was still flying until he was 80. The book Airship Pilot No 28 came from members of the younger generation being interested in his experiences and asking him to write them down. He set to work and helped by his third wife, Mary, he took this tour through his Airship and Balloon experiences. He died in 1980 having not quite reached his 88th birthday. |
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