The Leading Edge: A Life in Gliding Book

One of the most famous figures in world gliding, S.H. (Dick) Georgeson spent the greater part of his childhood at Irishman Creek station, home of his uncle, the renowned engineer and inventor Bill Hamilton. Dick pursued his early dream of learning to fly, but an introduction to gliding in England in 1949 soon saw him become committed to riding on the wind : he was hooked. By 1951, Dick had his first New Zealand gliding record and by 1960 his first world record. A succession of remarkable achievements followed over the next 25 years. A bold pioneer in long cross-wind wave flights, Dick pursued his addiction with courage and tenacity. In 1979 the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) awarded Dick the Gold Medal, their highest award for flying; this was followed in 1985 with a Lilienthal Medal, the highest award for gliding. In 1979 he received an MBE for serves to aviation in New Zealand. His story is a vivid account of his experiences in gliding, with gripping descriptions of many of his record-breaking flights and other dramatic adventures in the sky. Imagine flying at 35,000 ft in a flimsy glider, air temperature -57ºC - your breath crystallizing around you and ailerons and air brakes frozen solid and looking down to see the plane from Australia a tiny dot 20,000 feet below! Dick pays tribute to other pioneers and stalwarts of the gliding scene, both here and overseas; describes the evolution of soaring planes from the fabric-covered, wings and wires , open-cockpit glider he first flew; and tells of some of the tragic accidents associated with the risks of throwing oneself at the mercy of weather and terrain. The book is introduced with a foreword by Einar Enevoldson, former NASA test pilot and the mastermind of the Perlan Project, the attempt to reach the stratosphere in a glider by the American adventurer Steve Fossett. Anyone with an interest in flying or in high adventure of any kind will find it utterly absorbing.Read More