Alex Henshaw's Sigh for a Merlin has been acclaimed as one of the best books on the Spitfire ever written. This is now the story of his peacetime experience. He had the luck to grow up in the '20s and '30s during the golden age of flying and thanks to his father's generous encouragement it was not long before he had his own Gipsy Moth. From that moment there was no looking back. The Blue Riband of flying in the British Isles between the two world wars was the King's Cup. Henshaw set his heart on it, developing a technique of racing which extracted the very maximum from his aircraft: first the Comper Swift and then the DH Leopard Moth. Parallel with his search for speed was an obsession with making accurate landfalls, and he developed this blind - flying talent deliberately in a flying partnership with his father on many carefully planned long - distance survey flights. His exciting apprenticeship in these two skills was crowned by the acquisition of the Percival Mew Gull G-AEXF in 1937. After many initial successes with Jack Cross of Essex Aero Ltd. at Gravesend who became primarilly responsible for the racing and long distance preparations. First fruits of this partnership was victory in the King's Cup of 1938 at a speed that was the fastest of any winning aircraft at any time. This was closely followed by an amazing solo flight to Cape Town and back in February 1939 establishing several solo records that still stand today, over 40 years later. This feat of navigation and airmanship must surely be one of man's greatest flights - 12,754 miles over desert, sea and jungle in a single - engined light aircraft. Alex Henshaw tells his story in a vivid style that puts you at the heart of all his battles and adventures. (From dustcover notes)

This is the first part of Alex Henshaw's autobiography