The City of Perth Library and Boffins Books are delighted to present Michael Smith on Voyage of the Southern Sun.
In 2015 Michael Smith retraced the 1938 Qantas Flying Boat route from Sydney to London in his tiny Searey aircraft. Not satisfied with that achievement, he continued on and circumnavigated the globe, becoming the first person to fly solo around the world in a single-engine seaplane.
Can't make it? We'll happily have a copy of Michael Smith's Voyage of the Southern Sun signed for you. Simply contact us via phone, email, online or visit us in-store, and we'll take care of the rest.
University dropout Michael Smith built a multimillion-dollar business fitting out movie theatres around the world. After a business deal went bad, and shaken by how close he had come to being wiped out, Smith took an even bigger risk: to become the first person to fly solo around the world in an amphibious plane, retracing the 1938 Qantas, Imperial and Pan Am flying boat routes between Sydney, Southampton and New York.
With limited flying experience, no support team and only basic instruments in his tiny single-engine flying boat, the Southern Sun, Smith risked his life to make modern aviation history. His adventures include an unexpected greeting by Special Branch in the UK, a near-death experience in Greenland, and a journey up the Mississippi, landing on the river and sleeping on sandbanks. He made eighty stops on his flight around the globe, exploring cities and communities. This is the incredible story of his journey.
Michael Smith is the owner of the Sun Theatre in Yarraville, Melbourne, which he bought in 1995 and restored, and a keen flyer. He made a full length documentary about his record-breaking round-the-world flight, which will be screened around Australia. He was recently named the 2016 Australian Geographic Adventurer of the Year.
