Author Description

Dick Smith's amazing solo helicopter flights from America to Australia was an event that sparked the public imagination. He came home with many tales to tell, and a unique collection of photographs and movie film taken from his "magic carpet" which enables us to see the world in a way it has never been seen before.Dick Smith's incredible, and sometimes dangerous, journey takes him over some of the most inhospitable regions of the earth - over the glittering icebergs of the Arctic, the burning deserts of the Middle East, and the steaming jungles of South-east Asia. He also flies past some of the world's famous landmarks - the Statue of Liberty, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Parthenon, the Pyramids, and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. These are just a few of the highlights in the magnificent panorama the unfolds before the reader.Dick Smith also proves that the spirit of aviation adventure did not go out with the 1930s. Battling the elements in his tiny craft he follows the paths of the early aviators, setting a world record by flying solo in a helicopter across the Atlantic Ocean. He did his 50 years to the day after James Mollison made the first solo east-to-west crossing in a fixed-wing aircraft. When Dick Smith arrived in Darwin he set another record for the first helicopter flight from the United States to Australia.This superb book, lavishly illustrated in colour, is both a a gripping modern adventure and a feast for the eyes and mind.