Aviation

The popularity of the fighter aircraft used in World War II is huge in New Zealand, as evidenced by the enormous crowds that turn up for events such as Warbirds over Wanaka - over 80,000 people attended the 2010 event. New Zealand is extremely lucky that there are a wide range of airworthy WW II-era classic fighters remaining in the country, the subject of this superb new book of aviation photography. Author Gavin Conroy has had unparalleled access to New Zealand's classic fighters, and specialises in close-up air-to-air photograph... read more

Over a span of almost 20 years from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980's, a diverse group of very focussed New Zealanders looked skywards and from nothing created and built a well respected North Island airline called Air Central. The story reveals how the airline battled a chronic shortage of finance, rampant inflation, restrictive licensing regulations and a reluctance of the public to fly in a small aircraft yet grew to pioneer fast, frequent and reliable air links between provincial cities.

Topped Gun is a book about military planes. Pilots, and politics. It is about the Skyhawk jet fighters that entered the Royal NZ Air Force in 1970 and became the country's air combat force. It is a book designed to appeal beyond the pure aviation enthusiast. Readers are given a non-technical insight into the aircraft, its history and the changes it underwent over the years. A brief history up until the purchase of the Skyhawks is also given. Personal reminiscences are included in the post World War 2 era. Chapters are d... read more

Designed to be the best fighter in the world the creators of the Spitfire married science, technology and art to create both 'a thing of beauty' and a deadly weapon that changed the course of the war. 'You don't just strap yourself in, you buckle the Spitfire on, like girding on armour...'Squadron Leader William Duncan Smith The Spitfire is part of popular culture and from the Battle of Britain to the present day it has remained a national celebrity. As a focus of appeals, for scrap aluminium - 'turn your saucepans into Spitfires' ... read more

"Burt told Popular Mechanics, 'If we make a courageous decision like the goal and program we kicked off for Apollo in 1961, we will see our children or grandchildren in outposts on other planets.' Fortunately, we need not rely solely on governments for expanding humanity's presence beyond the Earth." Sir Arthur C. Clarke Burt Rutan's Race to Space chronicles how Burt Rutan has brought the world to the brink of affordable private space travel in the first complete visual record of his hundreds of designs, world records, and elite h... read more

COSMIC LOGIC (MSNBC.COM)
"Until the next-gen spacecraft actually fire up their rockets, space dreamers will have to content themselves with lower-flying adventures such as zero-gravity flights and astronaut training sessions. Or you could read the book: "Burt Rutan's Race to Space," a new volume from Dan Linehan, author of the "SpaceShipOne" coffee-table book, has just been published. While "SpaceShipOne" focused on the run-up to the rocket plane's history-making flights, "Burt Rutan's Race to Space: The Magician of Mojave and His Fly..read more

A story of passion for classic ex-military aeroplanes in general and a world-wide search for one type in particular - a PBY-5A Catalina flying boat. Finding a Catalina and bringing it to New Zealand was a hugely ambitious project and one that turned out to be full of drama, uncertainty and, initially, disaster.

This richly illustrated book chronicles lighter-than-air flight from Archimedes' discovery of the principle of buoyancy to the latest in sport balloons and plans for future airships. Far more than a timeline of events, "Lighter Than Air" focuses on the people - flamboyant and daring, heroes and scoundrels - who made history in the sky. Here are the eighteenth-century pioneers who first took to the skies, the peripatetic aeronauts who crisscrossed two continents a century later, the airmen who manned the great rigid airships, and th... read more

Contains jet aircraft both commercial and military

Spectacular aircraft and military equipment showcased in one of the world's largest and most important historical air shows. Enthusiasts and historic aircraft come from all over the world to turn quiet Wanaka from a small tourist destination in the lower South Island to the centre of the Warbird world for 4 days every second Easter. Amazing aerial displays from some of the world's best known and rarest historical aircraft are a highlight of the event. From fragile and slow moving World War One biplanes to modern day supersonic jets... read more

New Zealand?s first licensed airline to fly scheduled services, operated the Hokitika to Haast route on the scenic West Coast of the South Island. Air Travel (NZ) Ltd was launched in 1934 by legendary pilot Bert Mercer, the first Kiwi to achieve 10,000 flying hours. The airline also pioneered airmail, air-ambulance, alpine tourist flying and versatile freight work. Illustrated by many rare photographs this book tells the story of de Havilland Fox Moths, Dragonflies and Dominies and how these biplanes became indispensable to the iso... read more

On 17 December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first sustained, controlled flights in a powered aircraft. So began a transport mode that steadily became fundamentally important to the people of the world. A century after the Wright brothers' first pioneering initiatives, this book, for the first time, provides a complete record of all the aircraft that have been used by New Zealand's national carrier Air New Zealand, its predecessors - Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) and New Zealand National Airways Corporation (N... read more

The Spitfire and the Lancaster were the two RAF weapons of victory in the Second World War, but the glamour of the fighter has tended to overshadow the performance of the heavy bomber. Yet without the Lancaster, Britain would never have been able to take the fight to the German homeland. Highlights the scale of the bomber's achievements, including the famous Dambusters attacks. With its vast bomb bay, ease of handling and surprising speed, the mighty Lancaster transformed the effectiveness of the Bomber Command. Whilst addressing t... read more

Silver Wings tells the story of New Zealand’s women flyers, from the 1920s, when a woman’s place was deemed to be on the ground (preferably in the home), until the present day, when women fly every type of aircraft and are involved in aviation sport of all kinds. After 22 December 1925, when Gladys Sandford became the first woman in New Zealand to obtain a pilot licence, more and more women followed her example, despite some prejudice from male colleagues, from the aviation industry and from friends. Among the courageou... read more

DoP 2000, NZ A-4 / 148pp SPANZ (South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand) made a big splash in New Zealand's highly regulated aviation environment of the 1960's. this book tells how the airline boldly challenged the air licensing bureaucracy, political establishment and the government owned NAC monopoly of the day. With their specially modified DC-3 Viewmasters, they pioneered group tourist flying and new airline services to provincial areas.

From the earliest beginnings of powered flight, aviation has played a vital role in the developement of New Zealand and its interactions with the rest of the world. This book tells that story in stunning photographs sourced from the worlds best photographers and chosen to show our journey from the earliest pioneers to modern military aviation and from rural mail routes to global passenger airlines. Fully supported by the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) this is indeed a showpiece of aviation photography.

These small airlines of the 1950s and 1960s, like Fred Ladd's Tourist Air Travel in Auckland and Popeye Lucas' Southern Scenic in Queenstown, were colourful examples of post-war optimism and the 'can do' attitude which changed New Zealand forever. These were versatile airlines flying Cessnas, DH89 Dominies and Widgeons; opening up new scheduled air services, pioneering tourist flying, operating air ambulance and other special charters, developing agricultural work, carrying newspapers and airmail. Illustrated by many rare pho... read more

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Spiffing gift book for aviation fanatics everywhere. Hello chaps! You know, I've spent the best years of my life in dogfights flying some of the world's finest aeroplanes - now I find all my favourites are in this jolly old book, "The Colour Encyclopedia of Incredible Aeroplanes". From my old chariot the Spitfire right through to the Aircanad BD-19 RGS, you'll find everything you ever wanted to know. Pick up technical bits and bobs from the specification of every plane, to country of origin, type, performance and climb rate (I know... read more

A thrilling and very personal history of flight by the world-famous adventurer and businessman. As far back as stories go, pioneers have reached for the skies. In the last two hundred years, they have mastered the air and made the modern world possible. Today they are bringing outer space within our reach. They're inventors and toymakers, amateurs and adventurers, visionaries, dreamers and, yes, crackpots. Some have called them irresponsible, even dangerous. But I have met many of them. I have worked with them, and funded th... read more

Cars designed to be flown and aircraft designed to be driven have been created surprisingly often, particularly in the United States, where the unfettered optimism of the 1930s and 1950s allowed such fanciful ideas to flourish from time to time. This book covers the subject, revealing the stories of many doomed ventures.