(Calthrop). SOME OFFICIAL TESTS OF E.R. CALTHROP’S PATENT SAFETY “GUARDIAN ANGEL” PARACHUTE, TYPE A, from Aeroplanes, at the Experimental Station of the Royal Flying Corps, at Orfordness, in January, 1917. .....
Landscape 4to. [iv] + [xx] + 26 leaves of 143 Photographic enlargements from Biograph Film Pictures, 3 tipped in photographs to rear (Copyright Daily Mail) showing Major Orde-Lees and Lieutenant A. E. Bowen making their historic jumps with manuscript note to verso (see note below).
Inscribed to pastedown ‘Presented to The University of London by E. R. Calthrop 20 Nov. 1917’ ‘The Siken Canopy’ by John Lucas pp.73-4. ‘To be fair, there were admirable exceptions to brass-hat distrust of the parachute, notably Major T. Orde-Lees, future secretary of the Air Board’s Parachute committee. Orde-Lees was a restless eccentric passionately dedicated to the parachute campaign. The trouble was he also attracted considerable unpopularity among his colleagues. Not that unpoularity bothered him, or that it was a novel experience. He was disliked for his exhibitionism at school, unpopular as a young Royal Marines officer, and when in 1914 he went out with Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, his talent for alienating himself accompanied him there too. When their ship, the Endurance, broke up and had to be abandoned, Shackleton left twenty-two members of the expedition on an island to await his return with assistance. It was three months before he could do so, by which time the stranded explorers were in danger of resorting to cannibalism. The question was who would be sacrificed first. To Frank Wild leader of the stranded group, one name shone out above all others. First choice, unbeknown to him until later, was Orde-Lees. Fortunately for him, rescue arrived in time, and he survived to carry out his work promoting the parachute cause with great diligence....’ On the outbreak of the First World War, parachutes were issued to crews of airships and balloons. It was claimed at the time that parachutes were too bulky to be used by pilots of aircraft. R. E. Calthrop, a retired British engineer, had in fact developed the Guardian Angel, a parachute for aircraft pilots, before the war. He informed the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) of his invention and successful tests were carried out by Mervyn O'Gorman, Superintendent of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough. Despite encouraging test results, Sir David Henderson, Commander of the RFC, was unwilling to give permission for them to be issued to his pilots. Pressure was also applied on Calthrop not to publicize his invention. With growing numbers of pilots dying as a result of their aircraft being hit by enemy fire, Calthorp rebelled and in 1917 advertised his Guardian Angel parachute in several aeronautical journals. Calthorp revealed details of the tests that had been carried out by the Royal Flying Corps and pointed out that British pilots were willing to buy their own parachutes but were being denied the right to use them. The Air Board responded to Calthorp's adverts by setting up a committee to look into the possibility of allowing RFC pilots to use parachutes, and on January 13th 1917 Captain C.F. Collet of the RFC became the first British service flyer to make a parachute jump when he uses a Calthrop ‘Guardian Angel’ parachute for an experimental jump from 1600 feet. Although some members of the committee favoured their use, the Air Board decided against the measure. Officially the reason given was that the Guardian Angel was not 100% safe, it was too bulky to be stored by the pilot and its weight would affect the performance of the aeroplane. Unofficially the reason was given in a report that was not published at the time: "It is the opinion of the board that the presence of such an apparatus might impair the fighting spirit of pilots and cause them to abandon machines which might otherwise be capable of returning to base for repair." However, the Royal Flying Corps did decide to use them to drop Allied spies behind enemy lines. Pilots became increasingly angry about the decision to deny British pilots the right to use parachutes. By 1917 they were being used by pilots in the German Airforce, French Army Air Service and the United States Air Service. Instead of carrying parachutes, RFC pilots carried revolvers instead, apparently to finish themselves as soon as they see the first signs of flames. On 11 November 1917 Major Orde-Lees and Lieutenant A.E. Bowen made jumps from Tower Bridge on Sunday, November 11, 1917 with Calthrop’s Guardian Angel into the Thames to attempt to convince the Air Admiralty to buy parachutes for their pilots.
£3,000.00 [ref: 168741]

(Camm). Fozard, Dr. John W. (Editor). SYDNEY CAMM AND THE HURRICANE. Perspectives on the Master Fighter Designer and his finest achievement. Airlife 1991.
1st Ed. 4to. 258pp. Numerous ills. from photos. and drawings. Ex.-libris E.R. Uren, good in d/w. faded to spine.
£30.00 [ref: 196734]

(Doolittle). Thomas, Lowell and Jablonski, Edward. BOMBER COMMANDER. The Life of James H. Doolittle. Sidgwick and Jackson 1977.
1st UK Ed. xvi + 368pp. 67 ills. Very good in sl. browned and very sl. chipped d/w.
£10.00 [ref: 165112]

(Sikorsky). Hunt, William E. ‘HEELICOPTER’ Pioneering with Igor Sikorsky based on a personal account by ... Airlife 1998.
1st UK Ed. Sm. 4to. 229pp. Profusely ills. with photos. and drawings. Ex.-libris E.R. Uren, very good in d/w.
£20.00 [ref: 197021]

(Tupolev). Duffy, Paul and Kandalov, Andrei. TUPOLEV. The Man and His Aircraft. Airlife 1996.
1st Ed. Sm. 4to. 233pp. Profusely ills. with photos. and cold. and b/w. drawings. Ex.-libris E.R. Uren, very good in d/w.
£25.00 [ref: 196945]

(Willows). McKinty, Alec. THE FATHER OF BRITISH AIRSHIPS. A Biography of E.T. Willows. William Kimber 1972.
1st Ed. 160pp. 31 ills. from photos. and several diagrams in the text. Good in very sl. chipped d/w.
£25.00 [ref: 196534]

Angelucci, Enzo. THE AMERICAN FIGHTER. Haynes 1987.
1st Ed. 4to. 480pp. Profusely ills. Ex.-libris E.R. Uren, sl. rubbed d/w.
£20.00 [ref: 196789]

Antonov, Vladimir et al. OKB SUKHOI. A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft. Aerofax an imprint of Midland Publishing Limited 1996.
1st Ed. 4to. 296pp. + [i] adverts. Profusely ills. with nearly 1000 three view drawings and photos. including 8 pages in colour. Ex.-libris E.R. Uren, very good in d/w.
£35.00 [ref: 196949]

Balzer, Gerald H. AMERICAN SECRET PUSHER FIGHTERS Of World War II. XP-54, XP-55, and XP-56. Foreword by Col. Walter J. Boyne. Speciality Press 2008.
1st Ed. Sm. slim sq. 4to. x + 182pp. Profusely ills. with drawings and photos. very good in d/w.
£25.00 [ref: 197814]

Bodie, Warren M. THE LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING Widewing Publications, Georgia 1991.
1st Ed. 4to. xviii + 258pp. Profusely ills. with cold. and b/w. photos. Ex.-libris E.R. Uren, very good in d/w.
£35.00 [ref: 197040]