In the early morning of 16 October 1930, Oscar Garden taxied his tiny Gipsy Moth he had named Kia Ora, across London’s Croydon aerodrome. His plan was to fly to Australia, which was sheer madness as he only had a mere 39 flying hours under his belt. When he landed at Wyndham 18 days later no one was expecting him. However, his flight—the third fastest after veteran aviators Bert Hinkler and Charles Kingsford—captured the world’s imagination. The press dubbed him ‘Sundowner of the Skies.’ Unlike most of his contemporaries who died in crashes, Oscar survived and went on to a career in commercial aviation. In April 1940, he delivered the flying boat, Awarua, to Auckland for Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL), the forerunner of Air New Zealand. In 1943 he became TEAL’s Chief Pilot and Operations Manager; as the ‘Boss’ of this fledgling company, he steered it through its formative years, but left suddenly in 1947. He never flew a plane again.
This book title, Sundowner of the Skies (The story of Oscar Garden , the forgotten aviator), ISBN: 9781760793838, by Mary Garden, published by New Holland Publishers (July 4, 2022) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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