Source: IMDb
Just six weeks to go!
The obvious question about my choice of topic is how does a writer in Orange County, California come to write a book about the Battle of Britain? The Lord works in mysterious ways, but as near as I can divine it all began with the 1969 movie.
I was already predisposed to being an airplane fanatic, growing up on air force bases. But something about the aerial combat in that film (real Spitfires, Hurricanes, and Messerschmitts were used in the filming, by the way) caught my attention. At the time, I was into building model airplanes. So I not only built a few British and German WWII fighters, but I hung them from my ceiling as if they were suspended in a dogfight.
That was that. My fascination with the Battle of Britain lay dormant for thirty years. Then — and I know this will sound odd — the British comedy duo Amstrong and Miller created a pair of characters based on Spitfire pilots. They're hilarious. Somehow, watching them make fun of Hurricanes ("thems shit planes") brought me back to my childhood fascination with all things RAF.
And there you have it.