Survival prospects are poor for two new infants: the country of Singapore, which has nothing beyond the ingenuity and hard work of its people, and Straits Airways, battling the elements with equipment that still struggles to cope. Storms lie ahead.
The year is 1960 and the age of aerial mass travel is about to start. In Singapore, a tiny island with no prospects, a new airline is formed. The action moves around... Pakistan, India, Australia. One day the crew stray into Coffin Corner. Will they survive?
Excerpt
Flying is now very safe. You are more likely to die in bed than in an aeroplane. OK, anyone can play silly statistics, but you get the drift. Buy a ticket in cattle class today and you stand a very good chance of reaching the other end alive. This wasn't always so.
Airline traffic has increased about 60-fold in the past half century, while fatalities have taken an irregular path in the opposite direction; the worst year to date has been 1972 with 2429 deaths, the best 2013 with only 265.
Join me in the cockpit in the year 1960, when old seat-of-the-pants habits had not entirely died out. The aerial age of science was getting underway, many safety features had yet to be invented and managers were still trying to work out best operating procedures.
We find ourselves in Singapore, a tiny island with no natural resources, few prospects and a combustible racial mix.
The people and airline in this story are fictional, but set in the real world and with many of the actual events of the time. So all aboard: and fasten your seatbelts!
Professional Reviews
from Matt
29 April 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase.
Rolf Richardson has written a high octane tale of adventure, love, excitement, exploration and danger which charges along at a rollicking pace! An often exotic tour of far-flung locations aboard the Bristol Britannia and, latterly, the state of the art Boeing 707 leaves the reader educated, exhilarated and fascinated. Richardson's characters are beautifully painted with a vocabulary of limitless depth. Surprises and amusement lie at the turn of every page. Coffin Corner provides breathless, brilliant entertainment. Superb
From KB
8 March 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase.
Mr Richardson has clearly used his personal experience to develop this delightful tale of a struggling airline in post colonial Singapore. Full of technical and historical details that will appeal to a wide audience.
You have quite a variety of books based on far-flung locations. This one is particularly intriguing because of the way that Singapore is today. I recall the time when hippies were afraid to fly into Singapore because they would have their long hair shaved off. Maybe put in jail.
It is obvious from your background that there's nothing like travel to educate. And, in your case, involved in a field fast evolving as technology harnessed safety for the speed and danger garnered from the rapid advances in the first half of the twentieth century. A huge transformation of both Singapore and the time when stewardesses had to also be registered nurses.
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