The Raft Book Lore of The Sea and Sky by Harold Gatty. Signed by Harold Gatty (Personal Greeting & Dedication). 152 page (19. 5cm x 14cm) softback book with very rare slipcase & map published by George Grady Press 1944. Very rare signed 1944 edition. The book is a detailed account of the facts and principles of sea navigation using the knowledge of sea and sky and the use of a good pocket watch. Includes chapters on: Lore of the Sea and Sky; Land Indications from Sea Birds; Migration of Insects; Fish and Other Surface Life; The Scent of Land; Sounds from Land; The Sky as an Indicator of Land; Direction from Waves, Wind, and Swells, Ocean Currents and the Colour of the Sea; How the Polynesians Used the Stars; Directions from the Sun and Moon; Measurement of Angles; Steering by the Stars; How Far You Are North or South; How Far You Are East or West; Ocean Temperatures, etc. The book is lavishly illustrated with photographs, diagrams, illustrations & maps (many in colour) including seabirds, clouds indicating land beyond the horizon, star diagrams, paths of stars at varying latitudes, winds and ocean currents and more. Accompanied by very rare protective slip case, two large removable foldout charts: The Gatty Star Chart, and The World Navigation Chart Map containing complete latitude and latitude adjustment tables with a 36" Harp Degree Scale printed along the lower edge, and paper/card folded ruler. Harold Gatty (born 1937 in Campbell Town, Tasmania died 1957 in Fiji) was an Australian navigator, inventor, and aviation pioneer. Charles Lindbergh called Gatty the "Prince of Navigators. " In 1931, Gatty served as navigator, along with pilot Wiley Post, on the flight which set the record for aerial circumnavigation of the world, flying a distance of 15, 747 miles (24, 903 km) in a Lockheed Vega named the Winnie Mae, in 8 days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes. Gatty began his career as a navigator in 1917, at age 14, when he was appointed a cadet midshipman at the Royal Australian Naval College. After World War I, he became an apprentice on a steamship in the Australian merchant navy, where he learned the patterns of the stars while standing watch at night. Gatty served on many ships, some sailing between Australia and California, and ran a supply shop in Sydney Harbour until 1927, when he emigrated to the United States. In California, Gatty opened a navigation school, teaching marine navigation to yachtsmen. In 1928, his attention turned to aerial navigation, particularly to trans oceanic flights, where his experience as a ship's navigator applied. Gatty is credited with inventing an air sextant which used a spirit level to provide an artificial horizon. He also invented the "aero chronometer" which offset inaccuracies introduced into observations taken in a moving plane. The most important invention of his career was the Gatty drift sight. This optical device was directed at the ground, or the tops of clouds, and used to determine the rate and direction of an airplane's drift, or movement away from its heading. The device was also used as a ground speed indicator. In 1929, Gatty navigated a Lockheed Vega on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City for Nevada Airlines, in an effort to demonstrate the feasibility of coast to coast passenger service. The flight made four stops and took 19 hours and 53 minutes, which set the transcontinental airspeed record for a commercial airliner. In 1930, Gatty prepared a coast to coast route and navigation charts for Anne Morrow Lindbergh, whom he had also taught as a student. Anne Lindbergh served as navigator with her husband Charles on a record setting cross country flight of 14 hours and 45 minutes. The next year, Wiley Post asked Gatty to accompany him on an effort to break the world record for circumnavigating the earth, which was previously set at 21 days by the Graf Zeppelin airship. Gatty accepted, hoping to demonstrate the effectiveness of his navigation methods. The journey began on 23 June 1931 at Roosevelt Field in New York and followed a 15, 000 mile course across Europe, Russia, and Siberia, due to the lack of suitable airfields nearer the equator. Post and Gatty crossed the Atlantic in a record time of 16 hours and 17 minutes and continued to Berlin, Moscow, and Khabarovsk, then crossed the Bering Sea, landing on the beach near Solomon, Alaska, then to Edmonton, Alberta, arriving finally back at Roosevelt Field after 8 days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes. The pair received a tickertape parade in New York City. A year after the circumnavigation with Wiley Post, the US Congress passed a bill allowing civilians to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. President Hoover pinned the medals on Gatty and Post. Gatty was offered American citizenship and the newly created position of Senior Aerial Navigation Engineer for the U. S. Army Air Corps. Gatty expressed his wish to remain an Australian citizen and Congress passed a bill allowing foreign citizens to hold that post. In 1934, Gatty formed the South Seas Commercial Company with Donald Douglas, with the plan to deliver air service to the islands of the South Pacific. However, the company was soon sold to Pan Am who brought Gatty into the company to organise flight routes in that region. During the Second World War, Gatty was given the honorary rank of group captain in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and worked for the U. S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the South Pacific. He was later appointed director of Air Transport for the Allied forces, based in Australia, under General Douglas MacArthur. He resigned his position in 1943, as a result of difficulties with MacArthur and his organisation being disbanded. He then moved to Washington, D. C., where he authored The Raft Book, a survival guide for airmen downed at sea. The book became a success and was placed in the survival kits of all Allied airmen serving in the Pacific. After World War II, Gatty relocated to Fiji with his Dutch born second wife. Here he formed Fiji Airways which later became Air Pacific. He wrote a book on navigation, Nature Is Your Guide, which was published soon after his death from a stroke in 1957. He was buried in Fiji. Condition: Excellent Condition. Very Rare Slipcase: excellent condition; minor wear edges/corners, minor marks. Book: Softback near mint/mint condition. Pages near mint condition; very minor marks when pages viewed collectively side on (page faces unaffected), page faces very clean & bright. Chart: excellent + condition; age browning to single 'panel' (the exposed folded side). Map: excellent + condition. Ruler: excellent + condition. Good Condition. All autographs are genuine hand signed and come with a Certificate of Authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £4.99, EU from £6.99, Rest of World from £8.99.
