Ross Smyth (1921–2008)

This is a biography of a major player in the history of aviation in Canada. One of the first Canadians to join the RAF at the start of WW I, he chased Zeppelins over London and then fought in Belgium. Shot down he managed to crash land in Holland and thus avoided POW camp but he was interned in Holland for the duration.
His love of flying led him to pursue a career doing just that. His dream was to fly across the northern Atlantic to England. In 1930 he did just that becoming the first Canadian to do so. Another record flight he completed was New York to Bermuda and back in 1930 followed by another one from New York to Haiti.
During WWII he was deemed too old to serve but he did recruit hundreds of Americans to serve in the RAF and RCAF before the US was drawn in to the conflict.
I would describe the writing style as folksy and the text could have used a tighter editor. One does learn the background on the airplane companies that produced the craft Boyd flew. As well, we learn small, interesting details about the many famous men & women Boyd knew. Wiley Post, Howard Hughes, Amy Johnson, Amelia Earhart, Ann Morrow, Charles Lindbergh and Guiseppe Bellanca are some of the famous fliers and plane builders Boyd cross paths with.… (altro)