TEST FLIGHT

Signed on the title page by

Wing Commander H P ‘Sandy’ Powell

Allan Wingate First Edition, first printing 1956. 212 pages and well illustrated with photos.

Fine condition hardback book in burgundy boards which is clean, bright and tight. The dustjacket is in Very Good condition, clipped, with some rubbing and with some wear to the corners and a tiny loss at the top of the spine. It is now protected in an archival cover.

Following the enormous popularity of Hawker Chief Test Pilot Neville Duke’s book ‘Test Pilot’ and Supermarine Chief Test Pilot Mike Lithgow’s ‘Mach One‘, this book was published to explain the art and craft of the test pilot.  Written by Sandy Powell, Deputy Commandant of the Empire Test Pilot School (ETPS), this is a fascinating insight into the life of the test pilot, scattered with anecdotes and personal reminiscences.

Wing Commander Harry ‘Sandy’ Powell (1911-1986) joined the RAF in 1936 and on gaining his wings in 1937, was posted to a light bomber Squadron flying Harts. He flew Blenheims in France at the beginning of the war before being posted to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down where he served from 1941 to 1943 as a test pilot, flying over 30 types. He was then appointed as Deputy Commandant of the newly formed ETPS.  Here he had such famous pupils as Duke, Lithgow and Twiss who all became chief test pilots and world record holders. 

A scarce signed copy of an often overlooked book on the famous test pilots of the 1950s.