Final Final

True and fictional stories about the pioneering airmen and women who did not return from missions and the aircraft they flew in. The sky can be a dangerous environment for pilots and for their passengers. Most of the time, weather conditions are benign and flights are uneventful but when conditions become nasty pilots may not be able to keep on top of the situation. Added to weather hazards are mechanical failures, errors of judgement and the like. For military pilots there are, of course, the added risks of flying in a war environment and for research pilots there are the risks of flying into the unknown. John Palliser has been involved with aviation for sixty years. He is an aviation historian and also an accomplished pilot, having flown extensively in the UK, France and the USA over a fifty year period. In this collection of flying stories, half of which are fiction and half of which are factual, John Palliser describes situations in which pilots lose the battle for survival. The fictional stories in this book are all informed by the author’s encyclopaedic knowledge of aircraft and the world of flight. Even if the characters are not real, the situations they found themselves in are all too possible and give an insight into the dangers and hazards of pioneering flight. The factual stories recount the fascinating and awe-inspiring lives –and deaths – of well known aviators such as Amy Johnson and Antoine de St. Exupéry as well as celebrating the achievements and courage of those who’s deeds are not so familiar to us. Fact or fiction, famous or unknown, they all share the same fate, which is told in these stories. They will never again make a final approach at the end of a flight and their previous flight marked their final Final.

Table of Contents:
Prologue FICTION The Sausage Shoot, Tin Goose down, The Comet which almost eliminated Hitler, To the bitter End, To die for the Emperor, Beyond the Pale, The fiery Tail of the Komet, Miles ahead, KIA, Vietnam, 15th May 1972, The Iceman cometh, A Type too many, Goodbye, Pop Buehle, NON-FICTION The Orteig Trophy and the Oiseau Blanc, Amy, wonderful Amy, A Salute to Saint-Ex, The Tuskegee Airmen, The short Life of BSAA and its Avro Airliners, The Fall of the Flying Dutchman , The Mystery of the exploding Comets, George, were you denied twice?, Alas poor Yuri, too soon you fell, A French Nine Eleven, Scotty, you should have stayed on the ground Steve, you should have been more careful, Errare humanum est, Epilogue – When it is time to go…

About the Author :
John Palliser was born and educated in York. He read Modern Languages at Worcester College, Oxford, in the early 1960s. He then taught languages for eleven years in England, France and Germany. In the mid-1970s he qualified as an accountant and for most of his career worked in sports management, travelling extensively in Europe. Through his professional activities he acquired experience in buying, registering and operating business jet aircraft. He has had a passion for all aspects of aeronautics since his teens. His entry into the world of business aviation at the end of his career finally gave him the job satisfaction which he was seeking. Without having ever become a professional pilot, he has nonetheless built a solid total of hours as a private pilot both in France and in the USA where he has obtained an FAA instrument rating. After having worked for many years in Monaco, he has now retired to Aigues-Mortes in the south of France.