Sometimes it’s not about the destination...it’s about the journey.‘Flying the Knife Edge’ is the story of an ordinary man experiencing extraordinary things as a pilot in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s.After an untimely exit from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Matt McLaughlin took a leap into the unknown, travelling to Papua New Guinea to work as a missionary pilot. He soon switched from missionary to mercenary, and over the next three and a half years, as he built up the n...

Silver Medal Winner at the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards in New York, NY, USA.Sometimes it’s not about the destination...it’s about the journey.‘Flying the Knife Edge’ is the story of an ordinary man experiencing extraordinary things as a pilot in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s.After an untimely exit from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Matt McLaughlin took a leap into the unknown, travelling to Papua New Guinea to work as a missio...

The fascinating story of the exceptional maritime explorer, Matthew Flinders - the man who put Australia on the map.Shipwrecks, storms, death and danger - Matthew Flinders encountered it all on his courageous quest to circumnavigate and chart the treacherous Terra Australis coastline.From the drama of epic voyages and devastating shipwrecks; his part in the naming of Australia; his cruel imprisonment by the French on Mauritius for six long and harrowing yea...

Canadian and British airmen engaged in fierce and deadly battles in the skies over Europe during the Second World War. Those who survived often had to overcome incredible obstacles to do so -- dodging bullets and German troops, escaping from burning planes and enduring forced marches if they became prisoners.In one story, a tail gunner from Montreal survived despite being unconscious when blown out of his bomber. Another story describes how the crew of a navigator from Ottawa used ...

The gripping biography of one of New Zealand's most distinguished farmers, entreprenuers and aviation heroes. When Sir Tim Wallis’s Spitfire crashed at Wanaka airfield in 1996, his accident was reported around the world. This lion-hearted Central Otago man, a legendary figure in the aviation, deer farming and business worlds, was suddenly fighting for his life. Sir Tim Wallis is known as the helicopter pilot and entrepreneur who pioneered New Zealand’s deer industry. A mu...

'Brilliantly researched and sympathetically told, 44 DAYS is more than just a fitting tribute to brave but overlooked heroes. It's also a top read.' DAILY TELEGRAPHIn March and April 1942, RAAF 75 Squadron bravely defended Port Moresby for 44 days when Australia truly stood alone against the Japanese. This group of raw young recruits scrambled ceaselessly in their Kittyhawk fighters to an extraordinary and heroic battle, the story of which has been...

In this spirited history of the remarkable first four years of the convict settlement of Australia, Thomas Keneally offers us a human view of a fascinating piece of history. Combining the authority of a renowned historian with a brilliant narrative flair, Keneally gives us an inside view of this unprecedented experiment from the perspective of the new colony’s governor, Arthur Phillips. Using personal journals and documents, Keneally re-creates the hellish overseas voyage and the challenge...

The adventures of Pete the Bushman, a wild West-coaster from Pukekura, New Zealand's answer to Crocodile Dundee and a man who owns his own town. This book about a true New Zealand bushman, of a life lived against the grain, of adventure in New Zealand's thickest wilderness and a lifestyle any Kiwi bloke would envy. Pete the Bushman has lived a life inseparable from the bush - these are his stories of running down deer on foot, heli-hunting in his own chopper, finding the p...

"A masterpiece of the most diligent research and extraordinary detail and surely represents the definitive study of the Comet . . . a terrific book."—Royal Aeronautical SocietyThis volume from the respected and well-regarded aviation historian and author Graham Simons is "a solid book of such scope that you'll probably consult it for a lot more than just Comet material" ( SpeedReaders.info).Extensively illustrated throughout, Comet! featur...

Introduced into RAF service in December 1959, the English Electric Lightning was and still is one of the most iconic of British fighter aircraft. When it entered service it was literally streets ahead of the competition. With a rate of climb and top speed superior to its competition, and maneuverability that was still unmatched twenty years after it entered service, the Lightning was a potent weapon. Utilised by the RAF and Royal Saudi Air Force as well as the Kuwait Air Force, the Lightni...

Celebrated historian Diana Preston presents betrayals, escapes, and survival at sea in her account of the mutiny of the Bounty and the flight of convicts from the Australian penal colony.The story of the mutiny of the Bounty and William Bligh and his men's survival on the open ocean for 48 days and 3,618 miles has become the stuff of legend. But few realize that Bligh's escape across the seas was not the only open-boat journey in that era of Briti...

Aviation exploded in 1927. First, there was Charles Lindbergh. Immediately after his solo flight to Paris in May, pilots from around the world attempted record breaking flights. In this book, the reader will become acquainted with a myriad of brave and ambitious adventurers. They include: Charles Nungesser, the WWI flying ace who painted a coffin on his plane and called himself the “Knight of Death;” Dick Grace, the “broken neck” pilot who crashed airplanes for a living; Ruth Elder (inset)...