Pioneer Pilot: The Great Smith Barry Who Taught The World How To Fly
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Previous owner,Ex-library with usual markings,Fair - Rubbed edges and bumping on spine and corners
At a time when aviation was still a reckless gamble with death, one man transformed the act of flying from a dangerous art into a teachable science — that man was Robert Smith Barry. Pioneer Pilot chronicles the remarkable life of Smith Barry, the visionary RFC officer who revolutionised aerial training during the First World War, devising the Gosport System of instruction that would become the foundation of military flight training worldwide. F. D. Tredrey presents a vivid and authoritative account of a largely unsung hero, tracing his journey from the early, chaotic days of flight to his pivotal role in shaping the Royal Flying Corps and, ultimately, the Royal Air Force — a legacy so profound that Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Trenchard declared him the man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly. Tredrey writes with the precision and passion of someone deeply immersed in the world of early aviation, delivering a biography that is as much a history of military flying as it is a portrait of an eccentric, brilliant, and driven individual. The broader narrative illuminates the institutional resistance Smith Barry faced, the dangers confronted by his student pilots, and the sheer audacity required to challenge the orthodoxies of wartime command. For readers drawn to the intersection of courage, innovation, and military history, this is an indispensable account — one that begs the question of how many lives, and victories, hinged on a method of teaching that almost never came to be.
Author: F. D. Tredrey
Format: Hardback
Published: 1976, Peter Davies, London
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Previous owner,Ex-library with usual markings,Fair - Rubbed edges and bumping on spine and corners
At a time when aviation was still a reckless gamble with death, one man transformed the act of flying from a dangerous art into a teachable science — that man was Robert Smith Barry. Pioneer Pilot chronicles the remarkable life of Smith Barry, the visionary RFC officer who revolutionised aerial training during the First World War, devising the Gosport System of instruction that would become the foundation of military flight training worldwide. F. D. Tredrey presents a vivid and authoritative account of a largely unsung hero, tracing his journey from the early, chaotic days of flight to his pivotal role in shaping the Royal Flying Corps and, ultimately, the Royal Air Force — a legacy so profound that Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Trenchard declared him the man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly. Tredrey writes with the precision and passion of someone deeply immersed in the world of early aviation, delivering a biography that is as much a history of military flying as it is a portrait of an eccentric, brilliant, and driven individual. The broader narrative illuminates the institutional resistance Smith Barry faced, the dangers confronted by his student pilots, and the sheer audacity required to challenge the orthodoxies of wartime command. For readers drawn to the intersection of courage, innovation, and military history, this is an indispensable account — one that begs the question of how many lives, and victories, hinged on a method of teaching that almost never came to be.