Charles Ulm and Charles Kingsford Smith were the original pioneers of Australian aviation. Together they succeeded in a number of record-breaking flights that made them instant celebrities in Australia and around the world: the first east-to-west crossing of the Pacific, the first trans-Tasman flight, Australia to New Zealand, the first flight from New Zealand to Australia. Business ventures followed for them, as they set up Australian National Airways in late 1928. Smithy was the face of the airline, happier in the cockpit or in front of an audience than in the boardroom. Ulm on the other hand was in his element as managing director. Ulm had the tenacity and organisational skills, yet Smithy had the charisma and the public acclaim. In 1932, Kingsford Smith received a knighthood for his services to flying, Ulm did not. Business setbacks and dramas followed, as Ulm tried to develop the embryonic Australian airline industry. ANA fought hard against the young Qantas, already an establishment favourite, but a catastrophic crash on the airline's regular route from Sydney to Melbourne and the increasing bite of the Great Depression forced ANA's bankruptcy in 1933. Desperate to drum up publicity for a new airline venture, Ulm's final flight was meant to demonstrate the potential for a regular trans-Pacific passenger service. Somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii his plane, Stella Australis, disappeared. No trace of the plane or crew were ever found. In the years since his death, attention has focused more and more on Smithy, leaving Ulm neglected and overshadowed. This biography will attempt to rectify that, showing that Ulm was at least Smithy's equal as a flyer, and in many ways his superior as a visionary, as an organiser and as a businessman. His untimely death robbed Australia of a huge talent.

This book is a single source, concise presentation of what pilots should know about basic aircraft systems. The content reflects the author's more than thirty-five years experience of flying and fourteen years of teaching Aircraft Systems to university students.Aircraft Systems for Pilots includes a brief study of the fundamentals of physical matter (from which airplanes are made) and mechanics (how airplane parts act and react). The author provides sufficient study of each type of system to allow the professional pilot to stay abreast of the critical learning which must occur as the pilot advances into management of more complex aircraft.Subject covered include physics, aircraft engine types and construction, reciprocating engine theory of operation, engine lubrication and cooling, propellers and governors, fuels and fuel systems, power management, supercharging and turbocharging, pressurization and high altitude operations, electrical principles, electrical components, aircraft electrical systems, hydraulic systems and landing gear, pneumatic and deicing systems, aircraft structures and flight controls, weight and balance, inspections, pilot maintenance, and aircraft instrument systems. Illustrated throughout, study questions conclude each chapter and includes index.In print for more than 30 years and continually updated through the years, this 4th Edition continues to serve as the comprehensive college textbook for pilots learning aircraft systems.

DISCOVER THE EXHILARATING TRUE STORY BEHIND THE ACTION-PACKED CLASSIC FILM 'GOOSE AND MAVERICK MOVE OVER . . .' Admiral James Stavridis ________ March 1969. American jets are getting shot down at an unprecedented rate over Vietnam. In an urgent effort to regain the advantage the Admirals turn to a young naval aviator called Dan Pedersen. Officially, the programme he set up was called the US Navy Fighter Weapons School. To everyone else it was known simply as TOPGUN. Pedersen's hand-picked team of instructors - the Original Eight - were the best of the best. Together, they revolutionised aerial warfare and rediscovered the lost art of fighter combat. This is the extraordinary, thrilling story of how TOPGUN saw America reclaim the skies, by the man who created it. ________ 'It's hard to read Dan Pederson's Topgun and not think of Tom Cruise. A pleasure to read' Wall Street Journal 'Direct, vivid and unvarnished. A high-flying, supersonic tale' Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers 'Topgun earned Dan Pedersen the title of American Hero' Washington Times 'A riveting seat-of-the-pants flight into the lethal world of the fighter pilot' Dan Hampton, author of Viper Pilot

Captain Two Voices, is an interesting, funny, and sometimes scary account of 30 years plus, flying light aircraft of various types and sizes in the skies above the UK, Europe and the Far East. From the start, this memoir gives a fascinating insight in to the world of light aircraft and aviation in general, and the freedom to see the world below from the perspective of a bird. The author's passion for flying, which started as a trial flying lesson gift, is almost palpable when reading the exploits, which include close encounters with French jet fighters, flying in the same airspace as Concorde in its last year of flight, culminating in the author taking control of an icon, and flying the Supermarine Spitfire in the skies above West Sussex. Captain Two Voices may entice you to try this hobby for yourself, or if you are a pilot, you may recognise some of the situations and experiences both humorous and sometimes not so. As the author says, "it is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground".