Bill Lancaster : the final verdict : the life and death of an aviation pioneer

Captain 'Bill' Lancaster, pioneer flyer of the twenties and thirties, disappeared on a flight over the Sahara in 1933. It was twenty-nine years before his body was found beside the wrecked plane; a logbook tied to the wing, contained the calm yet moving record of his wait for death. Bill Lancaster's dramatic end was in keeping with his adventurous and colorful life. His service career established his reputation as a man without fear, and when he left the RAF in 1926 he turned to trailblazing. An attempt to be the first man to fly a light plane to Australia involved him with a top woman flyer, 'Chubbie' Miller and, neglecting their families, the pair flew together for four years until the depression forced Lancaster to leave in search of work. How Bill Lancaster made a desperate effort to retrieve his fortunes, how Chubbie fell in love with an American writer, Haden Clarke, while he was away, and how Clarke was shot dead on Lancaster's return, leads up to a full account of one of the most sensational murder trials of the century. A story as exciting as the age it is set in, its unique denouement leaves the reader free to pronounce his own verdict on Bill Lancaster, pioneer flyer and adventurer. Captain William Lancaster was the subject of public attention and controversy during his life as a record-breaking flyer, because of his love affair with Jessie Chubbie Miller (dubbed the Australian Aviatrix) and as the defendant in one of the most sensational murder trials of the twentieth century. His disappearance, which occurred during an attempt to break the London to Cape Town record in 1933, less than a year after his acquittal, led to speculation that his ill-prepared last flight had been driven by desperation, perhaps even guilt.Twenty nine years later, a French military patrol in the Sahara stumbled across the wreck of Bills plane and his body, along with his perfectly preserved log book. For eight days he had calmly recorded his thoughts, looking back over his life as he stoically faced death. In Bill Lancaster: the Final Verdict, we are presented with the original story in full (first published in 1969 as Verdict on a Lost Flyer), complete with an additional postscript written by the late author's daughter. Meticulously researched by Ralph Barker and written with the full cooperation of Chubbie Miller and the Lancaster family, it includes a complete transcript and photographs of the moving account contained within Lancaster's final diary a precious record that has since gone missing. [Elib] Captain 'Bill' Lancaster, pioneer flyer of the 1920s and 30s, disappeared on a flight over the Sahara in 1933. It was 29 years before his body was found beside the wrecked plane; a log-book, tied to the wing, contained the calm yet moving record of his wait for death. Bill Lancaster's service career established his reputation as a man without fear, and when he left the RAF in 1926 he turned to trailblazing. An attempt to be the first man to fly a light plane to Australia involved him with a top woman flyer, 'Chubbie' Miller. The pair flew together for four years until the depression forced Lancaster to leave in search of work. How Bill Lancaster made a desperate effort to retrieve his fortunes, how Chubbie fell in love with writer Haden Clarke, while he was away, and how Clarke was shot dead on Lancaster's return, leads up to a full account of one of the most sensational murder trials of the century The intriguing and complex story of Captain 'Bill' Lancaster, pioneer flyer of the twenties and thirties.