"Wings Across Water is a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish, an absolute must for aviation buffs..."
--Eleanor Eastwick, The Patrician

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Wings Across the Water: Victoria's Flying Heritage 1871-1971 is illustrated with a vengeance: it contains over 600 mesmerizing aviation photographs, most never before published. Beginning with a procession of "hot-air professors" performing the Island's first manned balloon ascents in the 1800s, the book documents everything from the coming of the first spindly flying machines and early barn-storming hijinks to the frantic preparations for two wars, bush-flying follies and the arrival of the jet age.

Wings Across the Water is one of those rare books that results when an exceptional authority joins forces with an able writer. Victoria-born and raised Elwood White, 87, himself a pioneer aviator who earned his pilot's licence in 1938, is recognized as the pre-eminent authority on Island aviation. Over the decades, few planes landed in the Victoria area without coming to Elwood's attention, and an astonishing number were recorded by his own camera. Written with an emphasis on accuracy and precision, Wings Across the Water is a must-have for aviation buffs everywhere.

Elwood White is a well-known expert on the history of Vancouver Island transportation. Co-author of Shays on the Switchback he has also written a wide variety of journal articles. A licensed pilot, he has been photographing and observing the local aviation scene since 1928. This book is based largely on his outstanding photographic collection.

Elwood White's profile page

Peter L. Smith, Elwood White's collaborator on Wings Across the Water: Victoria's Flying Heritage, was a professor of classics at the University of Victoria for many years. In addition to scholarly publications, he has written a history of the University of Victoria and is co-author of Ghosts on the Grade: Hiking and Biking Abandoned Railways on Southern Vancouver Island.

Peter L. Smith's profile page