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6+ Works 60 Membros 3 Críticas

About the Author

Includes the name: A. A. Tink

Obras por Andrew Tink

Associated Works

The governors of New South Wales 1788-2010 (2009) — Contribuidor — 3 exemplares

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Conhecimento Comum

Sexo
male

Membros

Críticas

Essentially this book is a biography of the late Tom Reid, a distinguished engineer whose career highlight was perhaps his leadership of the team that ran the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Australia during the Apollo Space Programme. It was the Honeysuckle Creek team who facilitated the live pictures of Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk in July 1969, in a behind the scenes story as dramatic as it is unknown. Tom Reid is certainly a worthy subject for biography. The Author follows his days as a talented youngster from Glasgow, navy service, emigration to Australia, and rise as an engineer and leader in the 1950’s and 1960’s at Woomera Rocket Range, Orroral Valley Tracking Station, Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station and Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, the last of which remains an important part of NASA’s Deep Space Network to this day. Whilst the book may on the face of it appeal primarily to spaceflight history enthusiasts, Tom Reid’s broader story will be of interest to anyone who enjoys a solidly researched and well written biography.

Recommended.

Honeysuckle Creek by Andrew Tink, published by NewSouth, purchased by the Reviewer from QBD Books Southland, price $A 34.95.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Bushwhacked | Oct 30, 2019 |
A very readable history of an incident about which I knew nothing. The author links the crash of a Hudson bomber carrying members of Robert Menzies' Cabinet, to the collapse of his government soon after. There remain questions about the crash because there was insufficient care and detail taken at the site. Andrew Tink suggests that the Air Minister had taken over the controls of the Hudson during the flight. Despite being an expert flyer himself, the Minister, Fairbairn had no experience with the complex control required for landing this plane. Most importantly, this is all conjecture on the author's part.
Read this book especially if you enjoy Australian history and visit the memorial, if you can find it, near Canberra.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
ivanfranko | 1 outra crítica | Apr 8, 2015 |
In August 1940 a Lockheed Hudson carrying 3 members of the Australian government and the Chief of the General Staff crashed near Canberra airport killing all aboard. The tragedy was a catastrophe for the already tottering Menzies government, beset by the pressure of the war effort and internal frictions. Tink argues that the loss of his closest allies in the crash brought the eventual downfall of the Menzies government and the rise of John Curtin, who became a national hero by prosecuting the war to its conclusion. I would argue that Tink draws a long bow in stating that the tragedy led directly to Menzies' downfall, as there is plenty to suggest the government was already terminal and would probably have fallen anyway. Equally tenuous is Tink's assertion that the cause of the plane crash, which has never been determined despite a number of inquiries, was due to the fact that Air Minister Fairbairn was at the controls rather than the RAAF pilot. There is simply no firm evidence to suggest who was flying the plane, largely due to bungling during the initial investigations which somehow failed to record which body was in which location in the wreck. Nevertheless this is an enthralling read, about a very significant but almost forgotten incident in Australia's aviation history. Highly recommended for both aviation buffs and stsudents of political history.… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
drmaf | 1 outra crítica | Sep 23, 2013 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
6
Also by
1
Membros
60
Popularidade
#277,520
Avaliação
½ 4.7
Críticas
3
ISBN
17

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