Walter Wellman Sets Out to Conquer Atlantic and Tame Cat - Will He Succeed?

Description

Billed as the true tale of how six men and a a cat flew (some of) the Atlantic in 1910. Before the era of fake news, journalist Walter Wellman charmed the New York Times into financing great flights of exploration in an airship of his own design. Twice attempting to fly to the North Pole, Wellman and his co-conspirators set their sights on the Atlantic. If enthusiasm and will alone were enough to accomplish the task, they would have succeeded, though technology of the day simply wasn't yet up to the task. Nonetheless, Wellman succeeded in setting a world's record for time and distance traveled by a powered aircraft. He also has credit for sending the first ever wireless message from an aircraft at sea, which is a disparaging reference to fellow crewman Melvin Vaniman's cat, exact words of which will await the reader. A fascinating and entertaining history featuring appearances by Admiral Hazard Perry, Teddy Roosevelt, Popov in Russia, and Wellmans' five alluring daughters. Former library copy in very good condition. Thanks for looking at this and my other auctions.