The Schneider Trophy Races - Barker, Ralph
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'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines meets Le Mans. Hugely entertaining. And deadly serious' Rowland White, Author of Vulcan 607 It was the greatest international competition of its day - a thrilling, globe-trotting, high speed air racing series that married cutting-edge technology with astonishing skill, bravery and danger. Duelling at 400 mph just a few feet from sea surface left pilots little margin for error. For over a decade, as aircraft of Great Britain, the United States, France and Italy fought for the prize, the Schneider Trophy represented the pinnacle of aviation…mehr

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Produktbeschreibung
'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines meets Le Mans. Hugely entertaining. And deadly serious' Rowland White, Author of Vulcan 607 It was the greatest international competition of its day - a thrilling, globe-trotting, high speed air racing series that married cutting-edge technology with astonishing skill, bravery and danger. Duelling at 400 mph just a few feet from sea surface left pilots little margin for error. For over a decade, as aircraft of Great Britain, the United States, France and Italy fought for the prize, the Schneider Trophy represented the pinnacle of aviation development. A succession of world records fell to machines that combined super-charged brute power with streamlined good looks. With the RAF's Supermarine S6B, legendary aircraft designer R.J Mitchell, honed the genius that produced the Spitfire, while Rolls-Royce advanced the state-of-the-art with a powerful V-12 engine that paved the way for its war-winning masterpiece, the Merlin.
Autorenporträt
Ralph Barker was born in Middlesex in 1917. He joined the editorial staff of Sporting Life in 1934 and later went into banking. He had some early success as a writer, and several of his sketches were performed at the Windmill Theatre. In 1940 he joined the RAF as a wireless operator and air gunner. After completing his training, he served with torpedo bomber squadrons, taking part in dangerous missions to attack ships bringing supplies to German forces. He left the RAF in 1946 to return to banking, but rejoined two years later. He went on to broadcast with the British Forces Network and work for the Air Ministry. Barker began to establish himself as a serious author on RAF subjects and his first book, Down in the Drink, was published in 1955. This was followed in 1957 by The Ship-Busters, inspired by his wartime experiences. He was subsequently invited to write The Last Blue Mountain, which was first published in 1959. He retired as a flight lieutenant in 1961 and became a full-time writer. Cricket was Barker's lifelong passion, and he played for the RAF and various Surrey clubs. His first cricket book, Ten Great Innings, was published in 1964, followed in 1967 by Ten Great Bowlers. Barker continued to write non-fiction titles on mainly aviation, survival and cricketing themes, including a compendium of England-Australia Test matches and authoritative histories of the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. His final book, Men of the Bombers, was published in 2005. He died in 2011.