The Cavalry in the Clouds: tales of the airborne Great War
From our UK edition
The first aeroplane flight in Britain was made in 1909 by John Moore-Brabazon, holder of the first British pilot’s licence. The same year, he strapped a basket containing a piglet to his craft in order to disprove the old adage. Pigs might now fly, but an industry didn’t – yet. In Flying Pianos, Charles Spicer introduces a three-part cast of mavericks, Great War heroes and predominantly military champions of the earliest aeroplanes between 1906 and 1936. His evocative title is a poetic term for their elementary construction, also reflecting his breezy tone, as, despite the constant risk (plus dark pilot humour), he eschews truthful alternatives such as ‘spinning incinerators’. Colourful flight compendiums are nothing new.
