Racing Ace

[Dolphin]

Racing Ace by Julian Lewis, ISBN 978 1 84884 216 8, is the biography of South African-born Flt Lt Samuel Kinkead DSO DFC* DSC* who flew with the RNAS in the Mediterranean, and with the RFC and RAF on the Western Front, where he was credited with 32 victories, before going to to fly and fight in South Russia and then in Iraq. After that he was part of the RAF's successful Schneider trophy winning team in 1927. He died when the Supermarine S5 he was flying crashed into the Solent in 1928.

The author is a British MP who has carried out considerable research, and the book is well written; it covers Kinkead's fighting career in detail, as well as providing a very useful insight into aspects of the RAF in the post-War period, including the service careers of many of the men whose names are familiar to those of us interested in the war in the air.

In summary, the book is well worth reading. There is, however, one very minor point that will annoy some readers: the dust-jacket features a painting of the Supermarine S5 in which Kinkead died, but the rudder stripes are reversed. Instead of the [Great War style] red-white-blue from the trailing edge, they are blue-white-red, as used after 1930.

Gareth