Howard Hughes, the movie mogul, aviation pioneer and political hound dog, has always fascinated the public with his mixture of secrecy, dashing lifestyle and reclusiveness. Companies responsible for major technological leaps often become household names. An exception is Howard Hughes s pioneering helicopter company, Hughes Helicopters, a name that has fallen into oblivion. Yet most schoolboys in the world have heard of the company s prize-winning product: the Apache helicopter. Hughes popularized the light helicopter trainer, mass-produced the first turbine powered light observation helicopter, led the way in hot cycle rotor craft propulsion research and, finally, developed the world s most advanced attack helicopter that was purchased and saw service with the UK. Here s how some of the world s most innovative helicopters were developed. Covering the period from the Second World War until the mid-1980s, you will learn why Hughes military aircraft contracts came under close scrutiny by the US government. The story is rich with tales of technological breakthrough and test-flying bravado made possible by a small crew of engineers and daring pilots. Written by a technical expert and insider to the industry, Howard s Whirlybirds: Howard Hughes Amazing Pioneering Helicopter Exploits is a fascinating and alternative view on the phenomenal pioneer with unpublished photographs and material that will fascinate the aviation and military historian as well as the casual reader and cinema buff."

NOT ONLY... beer in Berlin, absinthe in Prague, baths in Budapest, Dracula in Transylvania, trenches in Gallipoli, a plethora of Greco-Roman ruins, fairy chimneys in Capadocia, lost cities, souks and castles in Syria, angry Kurds, absent Armenians, Mounts Nemrut and Ararat, depressed in Iran, harassed in the Stans, filthy Chinese food and filthier loos, the Wall and the Warriors... BUT ALSO... a lost car in Calcutta, road rage in India, charred corpses in Nepal, Everest in Tibet, the Potala Palace, chanting monks, appalling roads, disgusting food, unspeakable bogs, magical Mount Kailash, mayhem in the Stans, Stalingrad, Crimea, the Light Brigade, Auschwitz and in Bruges... "Every traveller should make it his life's work to leave Swindon... few go to such extremes..." Dom Joly. "Lies, it's all lies..." Chairman Mao. The author is an Old Etonian, Cambridge graduate, retired investment banker and completely unrepentant.

Oswald Harcourt-Davis joined the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1916 to become a despatch rider. He was allocated a Triumph motorcycle at Abbeville France on 18th July 1916 and was attached to the ANZACs for the duration of the war which saw him motorcycling around the Somme and Ypres Salient areas. He won his military medal at Messines.