Out of the Blue: The Role of Luck in Air Warfare 1917-1966.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.NFINE/VG+.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour pictorial paintings illustrated dw/dj,with white+blue lettering; with light,minimal shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.A small closed tear with miniscule loss to front,top corner of dw/dj and inevitable but minimal,light and superficial scoring/indentations - without affecting boards beneath. Top+fore-edges slightly aged/toned - as usual/normal - but generally clean; contents bright,tight,clean with page-edge toning - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original,plain air-force blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,5- 317pp [paginated] includes contents list/table, acknowledgements,illus list/table,8 sections,16 b/w line illustrations by Michael Trim interspersed throughout the text and the book,and an index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages and 2pp blanks at rear.
One of the outstanding fighter pilots of World War II,and a distinguished author,Laddie Lucas has compiled this astonishing collection of first-hand stories about the part played by luck in warfare over a period of five decades.A truly international volume,drawn principally from unpublished sources and relying on personal accounts of airmen all over the world,'Out of the Blue' follows the history of war in the air from the pioneering days of combat over the Western Front in WWI to the sophisticated aerial contests of the Vietnam War. Beginning in 1917 with Lord Balfour's miraculous safe landing after an extraordinary ejection from his crushed bi-plane,'Out of the Blue' is a breathtaking assembly of stories - some horrific,some humorous, some frankly incredible - told with extraordinary freshness and vividness by some of the legendary names and unknown heroes of three wars.Air Marshal Sir Edward Chilton reconstructs in riveting detail the epic 'Channel dash' by three German battlecruisers in broad daylight through the Straits of Dover in 1942.Group Captain Leonard Trent VC tells how the luck of the draw saved his life in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III in 1944.Japanese fighter pilot Yutaka Yokota,who volunteered as a 'human torpedo' in the Pacific war,recalls how mechanical trouble prevented him from making the supreme sacrifice for his Emperor. Meanwhile,a United States Air Force officer, Col. Kenneth W. Cordier,tells how he received a direct hit from a Soviet ground-to-air missile in the Vietnam War - and survived. The volume has its share of bizarre and amusing moments too.Here are shamefaced confessions of 'own goals' by off-course bomber pilots, the intriguing tale of an Australian air gunner's clairvoyant mongrel Smudge,and the account by a great USAF fighter leader of the last war of how his ability to blow impressive smoke rings from a cigar may have saved his life. 'Out of the Blue' is a marvellous entertainment,a book of real-life adventure stories more thrilling than any to b found in fiction,and a fine tribute to the courage and humour of all those who faced the challenge of the air in time of war.'For us,the air was always the master of our fate,' says Laddie Lucas,who contributes his own personal stories of remarkable escape.'Take liberties with it,push your luck with it too far,and your chances of survival were slim.The firmament would,in the end, always prevail.' Want more Victoria Cross-related titles? Please search my SIGNED, NAVAL/MILITARY,GENERAL and BIOGRAPHY catalogues - using keywords: Victoria Cross_VC. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.