In the blue light of african dreams
Just thought I'd mention this book, which some or all of you may have read, but just in case. I read it in the early nineties but it still resonates with me today. It is the novel 'In the blue light of african dreams, by Paul Watkins The book is set in 1917 and follows the story of an attempt to cross the Atlantic before Lindbergh. The first half of the book follows an American pilot in the Lafayette squad.
It is based, in part on a french pilot Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser who is commemorated in WoG miniatures of course and no doubt well known to many on here, but for completion here is a potted bio.
He is best best remembered, at least in France, as a rival of Charles Lindbergh. Nungesser was a renowned ace in France, ranking third highest in the country with 43 air combat victories during World War I.
After the war, Nungesser mysteriously disappeared on an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, flying with wartime comrade François Coli in L'Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird). Their aircraft took off from Paris on 8 May 1927, was sighted once more over Ireland, and then was never seen again. The disappearance of Nungesser is considered one of the great mysteries in the history of aviation, and modern speculation is that the aircraft was either lost over the Atlantic or crashed in Newfoundland or Maine.[2] Two weeks after Nungesser and Coli's attempt, Charles Lindbergh successfully made the journey. I will forever hope that Nungesser's plane is discovered across the atlantic.
An interesting story, which really needs to be made into a film, worth checking out.
I'm just loaning my copy to Mike but can pass it on again if you want to read it.
Rob
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