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"TEST PILOT was first published in 1953. This new edition is reprinted exactly as that edition but with an additional chapter covering Neville Duke's flying life from that date, and also has appendices and Index, not included in the earlier book, together with a completely new selection of photographs. ON SEPTEMBER 6th, 1952 the Rt. Hon. Winston Spencer Churchill penned a note from No. 10 Downing Street to the author of this book. "My dear Duke," he wrote. "It was characteristic of you and of 615 Squadron to go up yesterday after the shocking accident. Accept my salute." The accident in question had sent a ripple of horror through the nation, and indeed the world, for on that day John Derry, diving through the sound barrier from a height of eight miles at the Farnborough Air Display, had plummeted to death when his De Havilland 110 disintegrated in full view of 200,000 spectators. In the dreadful hush that followed, while ambulances were still searching out the dead and injured, two more supersonic bangs startled the crowd, and the tiny Hawker Hunter streaked into view at the speed of sound, piloted by Neville Duke who, only a few minutes after witnessing the death of his close friend, had without a moment's hesitation taken his own machine into the air. This act was characteristic of a man who, during the war, had been a fighter pilot on many fronts from the Battle of Britain on. He had shot down 28 enemy aircraft and reached the rank of Squadron Leader at the age of twenty-one, and two years later he had a D.S.O. and two D.F.G.s to his credit. The exploits which helped him earn these form the subject of some vivid and thrilling early chapters of the book, based on the diaries which he kept at the time. But courage is not the only quality called for in a Test Pilot, and it was during these years that Duke acquired the skill and the technical knowledge, as well as the intuition and virtuosity, which are required of a really great flier. These, added to an almost passionate feeling for the vast spaces of the air, which dates from his boyhood, have made him into one of the greatest exponents of supersonic flight who has yet ap peared in the Jet Age. This book is the story of Neville Duke's life, recounted in his own words… CONTENTS Introduction by Alan W. Mitchell Through the Hatch! Early Flights Biggin Hill in 1941 War over France War in the Desert Cairo to Cap Bon Italy Glimpsing the Future Speed - and Decisions Civil Life Records and Races Test Pilot Chief Test Pilot Farnborough A Look Ahead" 195 p. photos.
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