Final Final

True and fictional stories about the pioneering airmen and women who did not return from missions and the aircraft they flew in. The sky can be a dangerous environment for pilots and for their passengers. Most of the time, weather conditions are benign and flights are uneventful but when conditions become nasty pilots may not be able to keep on top of the situation. Added to weather hazards are mechanical failures, errors of judgement and the like. For military pilots there are, of course, the added risks of flying in a war environment and for research pilots there are the risks of flying into the unknown. John Palliser has been involved with aviation for sixty years. He is an aviation historian and also an accomplished pilot, having flown extensively in the UK, France and the USA over a fifty year period. In this collection of flying stories, half of which are fiction and half of which are factual, John Palliser describes situations in which pilots lose the battle for survival. The fictional stories in this book are all informed by the author''s encyclopaedic knowledge of aircraft and the world of flight. Even if the characters are not real, the situations they found themselves in are all too possible and give an insight into the dangers and hazards of pioneering flight. The factual stories recount the fascinating and awe-inspiring lives -and deaths - of well known aviators such as Amy Johnson and Antoine de St. Exupery as well as celebrating the achievements and courage of those who''s deeds are not so familiar to us. Fact or fiction, famous or unknown, they all share the same fate, which is told in these stories. They will never again make a final approach at the end of a flight and their previous flight marked their final Final. See more