Anyway, if it is the good book I have said it is in my first paragraph why does it not get Ten out of Ten? Here I have to be very careful; it's as if I'm about to start walking on very thin ice indeed. Here goes. In Chapter 15 (after Chapter 14 and before Chapter 16 as Farley would no doubt explain) there is a paragraph which dam' near took my breath away. He gives his opinion of the aeroplanes which will stand the test of time and hindsight. After dribbling on a bit, and a name-dropping line-shoot about boozing with Adolph Galland in Hamburg one night, he quotes him as saying that the Me109 was not amongst the best because it was too tricky to land" and that constitutes a fundamental flaw for a service type." And then, here it comes, back to Farley: "Not for me the Hurricane either, because, unlike the Spitfire, it was not developed to its full potential."
    Well, maybe it's my fault; perhaps I'm too sensitive about the Hawker Hurricane and maybe some of you will have no comment to make on Farley's viewpoint. So let's take that dreadfully overrated aeroplane, the Spitfire, first. Those who flew it, and I flew a number of its Marks, will remember the long engine cowling that stretched ahead of the windscreen denying you forward, and downward, view, especially when approaching to land and while taxying. OK? Compare that to the Hurricane with its raised cockpit and far better forward view. But much more important; back down memory lane to the early 1930s.
    The time had come to produce a high speed fighter aircraft. The days of the biplane were over; the low wing monoplane had to be introduced. But Hawkers had never produced a monoplane fighter and so Chief Designer Sydney Camm and his team had to start from scratch. Their work was exemplary - brilliant. They got it right; and what a responsibility! The Hurricane made its maiden flight on November 6th 1935 and George Bullman, the Company's Chief Test Pilot, expressed his delight in the aircraft's handling and performance; and so did the RAF's test pilots. Sopwith authorised immediate preparation for production without waiting for a Government order, so pressing was the threat of war. In 1940 Hurricanes accounted for more enemy aircraft losses than all our other defences, yes, Spitfires included. Pause for a moment. If there'd been a problem with the Hurricane and its production delayed for any reason, the German Air Force would have shot the few Spitfires we had out of the sky or blown them up at their airfields. Invasion from Germany would have followed. Think of the havoc, the terrifying damage and destruction to our fair land.
    Now how does the Hurricane stand in the test of time and hindsight? You choose. But why did he write this? Well, the dear old lad is a great one for argument; loves an argy-bargy. You can almost hear him thinking, what will upset old goons like Crampton? I know, I'll write something about the Hurricane that could be taken as derogatory; bound to set the old idiots off. But no, on reflection it could not have been like that. Now I'll tell you what Farley's really like.
    Forgive the personal and delicate nature of what follows. In February last year my darling wife died. I nearly went to pieces I adored her so. Shortly afterwards Farley rang and asked how we both were, and so I had to tell him. He detected my distress and said, "I'll be with you in an hour." Not for him the question, would you like me to call? Tomorrow? Next week, perhaps? An old Hawker mate was in distress so he immediately stopped what he was doing, and Farley does not do just one thing at a time, he does at least six. And he duly arrived, simply to give me company. It's the loneliness that kills under those awful circumstances, and he knew it. That's the man, and you should know it. And now you do.
    No, clearly the poor fellow must have been ill to write what he did about the Hurricane. His illness robbed him of his memory about the Hurricane's history. Maybe he'll drop that dreadful Hurricane paragraph at the book's second printing and replace it with a song of praise for the men who designed and built the aircraft. They saved our country.
    In the rest of the book Chapter 16, General Aviation Thoughts, is nearly the best of the book and all who have their own aircraft, or are thinking of buying one, MUST read it. There should be a law against anyone in the future getting a Private Pilots Licence if they have not read it. So, I'll forget about the Hurricane thing and give him Ten out of Ten. It is the best book about flying you will ever read.
    (See also Book Reviews, pages 7-8)