Open Cockpit

Product Description Thanks to a broken leg during flight school, Arthur Stanley Gould Lee gained valuable additional time flying trainers before he was posted to France during World War I. In November 1917 during low-level bombing and strafing attacks, he was shot down three times by ground fire. He spent eight months at the front and accumulated 222 hours of flight time in Sopwith Pups and Camels during a staggering 118 patrols; being engaged in combat fifty-six times. He lived to retire from the RAF as an air vice-marshal in 1946. Author of three books, this is by far his best. Lee puts you in the cockpit in a riveting account of life as a fighter pilot at the front. At turns humorous and dramatic, this thoughtful, enlightening, true account is a classic to be ranked with Winged Victory by V. M. Yeates, also published by Grub Street. Review Open Cockpit is a great read, and generously illustrated with a mix of well-known images, and the author's own album snaps to add a personal touch. For a gripping first-hand account of what flying and fighting in WWI was all about, this one has few peers and it is good to see a new edition available for a fresh generation of enthusiasts. --Windsock Without a doubt, this is a classic account of the air war over the Western Front. --Britain at War There are some books which deserve a place on the shelves of anyone with an interest in WWI aviation and this is one of them. --Cross & Cockade International About the Author Arthur Gould Lee was born in 1894 and served in the Sherwood Foresters, RFC and RAF from 1915 to 1946, when he retired as an air vice-marshal. He took up writing on retirement from the RAF and published twelve non-fiction books.