Autogiro, Signed (3 results)

hardcover. Condition: Acceptable. Signed. dedicated, inscribed, and signed by the author on the ffep. dj shows minor wear, tear, rubbing. pages clean.

Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003. First Edition with full numberline. Octavo (24.2cm); illustrated dust jacket over black cloth boards with silver lettering to spine; xxiv,389pp; b&w photos. Jacket edgeworn with nudging at head of spine and a few stray smudges. Boards faded a bit at bottom edge. Spine very slightly cocked, with bumping at ends. Very sparse underlining and a couple marginal checks in faded orange highlighter, with all text legible. Binding is sound. Signed by the author to autogyro pilot Andrew Keech on front free endpaper with inscription "For Andy, Your creation of your tractor autogyro "Woodstock" preserves the visions of Juan de la Cierva & Harold F. Pitcairn into a new century of autorotations / flight - A model I hope to successfully emulate -- keep those blades whirling! It is an honor, privilege & great pleasure to friend -- Safe (?) -- always, Bruce. 9/11/03" Keech set a transcontinental flight record in October of that year, flying Woodstock from Kitty Hawk to San Diego, and would go on to set a number of world records for speed.

Dust Jacket Condition: dj. First Edition. First Edition. SIGNED by pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart on the half-title page. Earhart was married to one of the book's publishers, G.P. Putnam, at the time of the book's publication, which likely accounts for the occasion of the autograph. An account of the creation of the autogiro, an experimental rotorcraft predating the modern helicopter, co-written by the machine's inventor, Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva. On May 29, 1931, Earhart became the first woman to pilot one of these crafts: the Pitcairn autogiro, owned by Beech-Nut Packing Company, embarking on a coast-to-coast trip across the US. The craft was known by many as "The Black Maria" due to its propensity for life-threatening accidents, and required frequent stops due to its 52-gallon fuel capacity, but Earhart described it as "the answer to an aviator's prayer." Earhart set the first autogiro altitude record, and would go on to set numerous records for women's speed-and-distance aviation between 1930 and 1935. Earhart's legendary final flight in 1937, part of an attempt to fly around the world, resulted in her disappearance over the Pacific Ocean-and remains unsolved to this day. Near Fine, lacking the dust jacket, with light wear and very faint evidence of label removal on the front endpaper. Signed.