About this Item
9.0 x 5.75 inches. In blue cloth covers with gilt to spine. With illustrated dustwrapper. Blind embossed logo to front. In very good condition with good dustwrapper. (d/w. Spine slightly darkened. Large pice missing from front. Slightly rubbed around edges. Not price clipped. With protective plastic wrap). Small marks to boards. Mild foxing to edges. Slight browning to endpapers. Occasional foxing spots inside. Else a clean and tight copy. 292 pp. With b/w photographs. The Hon. Mrs Victor Bruce was a motor and speed boat racer. In July 1930 she learned to fly and having gained he pilot?s licence she bought an aeroplane. On 25 September 1930, she named the aircraft Bluebird and took off from Heston Aerodrome. She flew east with stops in Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq. An oil leak caused a forced landing on the shore of the Persian Gulf, where she was sheltered for two days by Baluchi tribesmen before a British rescue party reached her. After a delay of several days for repairs, she flew on to India, Burma, Siam (Thailand), and French Indo-China (Vietnam). Torrential monsoon rains forced a landing in a jungle clearing beside the Mekong River; she contracted malaria and her flight was further delayed. She flew on to Hanoi, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Seoul, making the first flight across the Yellow Sea. On 24 November 1930, having covered 10,330 miles (16,620 km) in 25 flying days, she reached Tokyo. She crossed the Pacific aboard the Empress of Japan to Vancouver. Her flight across North America was not without incident: an undercarriage failure on landing at Medford, Oregon, caused extensive damage and another week's delay. She reached her announced destination of her mother's birthplace, New Albany, Indiana, by way of San Francisco, San Diego, St. Louis and Chicago. A one-week delay followed a crash on takeoff from Baltimore, and she finally reached New York City in early February 1931. She sailed on the Īle de France to Le Havre, and on 19 February 1931 flew to Lympne Airport, having flown about 19,000 miles (31,000 km). On 20 February 1931, she was given an aerial escort by Amy Johnson, Winifred Spooner and others to Croydon Airport, where a reception of press and celebrities awaited her. She was the first person to fly from England to Japan, the first to fly across the Yellow Sea, and the first woman to fly around the world alone (crossing the oceans by ship). [Wikipedia]. This is her story in her own words and is a rare first edition.
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