Sir Richard Branson is one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. His Virgin Group is one of the most recognised lifestyle brands, trusted and enjoyed by many millions of people. His autobiography, Losing My Virginity, and his second book, Screw It, Let's Do It, have both been international bestsellers. Adrian Mulraney is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Along with being a top voice artist, he has appeared in over 70 theatre shows in four Australian states and has appeared in Stingers, Neighbours, MDA and many other TV shows and feature films.
A quirky, eclectic history of great flights, from balloons to space shuttles. -- Kirkus Reviews Branson's enthusiasm for avant-garde flight and his firsthand understanding of its rigors make this a rousing-sometimes even elevating-read. -- Publishers Weekly The Virgin Atlantic Airlines founder and billionaire adventurer celebrates the exploits of airborne daredevils-his own prominently among them-in this lively history of aviation pioneers. Branson ranges from the Montgolfier brothers' 1783 invention of the hot-air balloon to today's nascent space tourism industry-tickets on his Virgin Galactic space liner will run ,000-highlighting men and women who risked their money and lives to advance aerial technology or just put on a good show. It's a colorful assemblage of engineers, test pilots, barnstormers, and fighter aces; there are asphyxiated high-altitude balloonists, ultra-light enthusiasts who fly lawn chairs, and the birdman who jumped from an airplane wearing only wooden wings and glided safely to the ground. Into the soaring, crashing, and burning, Branson inserts his own extreme-ballooning adventures- I opened the hatch, climbed out on top of the capsule, and hacked away at the cable with my knife -and much interesting lore of aero-space design. Like everything the author does, the book is, in part, an advertisement ( Over the years, pioneered comfortable reclining seats ). Still, Branson's enthusiasm for avant-garde flight and his firsthand understanding of its rigors make this a rousing-sometimes even elevating-read. -- Publishers Weekly