![]() ![]() In WWII Chichester enlisted for the UK as a Navigation Expert, literally writing the manual for solo fighter aircraft "kneeboard navigation," enabling them to run missions across Europe and return successfully, counteracting the errors resulting from the difficulties of taking sun sights with a sextant alone from a moving airplane. On an attempt to circumnavigate the world solo by airplane some time later he hit an overhead cable and went down in Japan. On Lord Howe Island his plane was heavily damaged and he ended up having to rebuild it himself with the help of native islanders. ![]() He made the first solo flight East to West across the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, and was the first to land an aircraft at Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. Sir Francis Chichester was a distinguished aviator before becoming a yachtsman. ![]() I love accounts of true sailing adventures, and when I recently rediscovered this book on my shelf I finally dove in. ![]() Surprisingly, I had never heard of Sir Francis Chichester or of his book Gypsy Moth Circles the World until I found and bought a copy at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney several years ago. ![]()
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