Dragonracers
By Peter Bunzl and Lia Visirin
()
About this ebook
The discovery of a dragon egg could mean a ticket to the skies for aspiring aeronauts Kitty and Harris in this page-turning adventure from award-winning author Peter Bunzl.
Twins Kitty and Harris Hawk have grown up at the airfield where their father works as an engineer. Kitty in particular is obsessed with the idea of becoming an aeronaut but her father thinks children should stay firmly on the ground. When the twins discover a strange and unusually large egg from which a dragon hatches, little do they imagine that this is the first step on a journey that will see them taking to the skies and competing in the first long-distance air race. Can they win the huge prize that’s at stake and will their daring adventure lead their father to change his mind about Kitty’s future?
Peter Bunzl
Peter Bunzl grew up in London and lives there with his partner Michael. He is a BAFTA-award-winning animator, as well as a writer and filmmaker.
Read more from Peter Bunzl
The Clockwork Queen Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Dragonracers
Related ebooks
Amelia Earhart and the Flight Across the Ocean Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime Machine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlying Fisheries Biologist: Flying Experiences of an Alaskan Fisheries Biologist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIcarus Updated: A Boy and His Dream Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFly the Airplane!: A Retired Pilot’s Guide to Fight Safety For Pilots, Present and Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlight of the Dragon Lady Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCash's Flight Plans & Adventures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobertson's War 1914-A Jack Robertson Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSully: The Untold Story Behind the Miracle on the Hudson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Red Airplane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCobra Flight: A High Arctic Thriller, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath In The Air Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAbove The Labyrinth: 2nd Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTouch the Sky: The History of Aviation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAirfield Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Chasing Planes: Adventures of an Airplane Fanatic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAviation: Cool Women Who Fly Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCourse Correction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorth Star over My Shoulder: A Flying Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dragon, Awake Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBUSH FLYING: A PILOT'S NIGHTMARE Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRescue Pilot: Cheating the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Australian Women Pilots: Amazing True Stories of Women in the Air Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Sky of My Own Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSwamp Eagles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Build an Airplane in Your Living Room: A Guide to Living an Unconventional Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaverick Pilot, Volume Three Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Airplanes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Children's Animals For You
Chicken Big Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crabby the Crab Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into the Wild: Warriors #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pete the Kitty and the Unicorn's Missing Colors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Jealous Lion: Bedtime Stories for Children, Bedtime Stories for Kids, Children’s Books Ages 3 - 5, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Winnie the Pooh: The Classic Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pete the Cat: Super Pete Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Frog and Toad: A Little Book of Big Thoughts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brave Like a Bee: Bedtime Stories for Children, Bedtime Stories for Kids, Children’s Books Ages 3 - 5, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret Garden: The 100th Anniversary Edition with Tasha Tudor Art and Bonus Materials Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pete the Kitty: Ready, Set, Go-Cart! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Goodnight, Good Dog Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Kitty Gets a Bath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Winnie-the-Pooh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bear Went Over the Mountain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wind in the Willows - Illustrated by Arthur Rackham Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stuart Little Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: The Chronicles of Narnia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silver Chair: The Chronicles of Narnia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pout-Pout Fish Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shiloh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Velveteen Rabbit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amari and the Night Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Horse and His Boy: The Chronicles of Narnia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Dragonracers
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Dragonracers - Peter Bunzl
To Georgia
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
1 Kitty Hawk
2 Test Flight
3 The Egg
4 The Hatchling
5 Brave Pilots Wanted!
6 Growth Spurt
7 Flying Practice
8 Race Day
9 Enter the Dragon
10 Flying High
11 Last Leg
12 Big Finish
13 Flying Lessons
Author’s Note
Copyright
Chapter 1
Kitty Hawk
My name is Kitty Hawk. My brother’s name is Harris Hawk. This is a story about the first time we flew. That’s when I became the world’s first Bird Girl
and Harris became the world’s first Bird Boy
. That’s what the newspapers called us after our great adventure – just like the very first pilots, who were called Bird Men
.
Our dad, Peregrine, is chief aircraft engineer to Mr Claude Grahame-White, the most famous Bird Man
in Britain. Mr Grahame-White is Dad’s boss, but he still insists that my brother and I call him Claude.
Harris and I are twins. We were born in 1900, at the start of a great new century. Our mum died when we were babies, and Dad has taken care of us since then. He says that Mum might be gone, but her love remains, burning bright like the sun. Mum is up there in Heaven, high above the clouds, shining her light down to brighten our days.
Harris, Dad and I live in a cottage on the edge of Hendon Airfield, where Dad works. Hendon Airfield belongs to Claude, and it wasn’t always the big aerodrome it is now, with lots of planes flying in and out. At the time of this story, it was a grass field from when it used to be farmland, with two new aircraft hangars that Claude had built.
The aircraft hangars had curved roofs and each could house one aircraft. The bigger hangar housed Claude’s biplane, which is an aeroplane with two wings on each side that are placed one above the other. In the bigger hangar there was also a workshop with tools.
No one ever went in the smaller hangar. It housed an old monoplane – an aeroplane with only one wing on each side. The monoplane was never used. Dad called it the injured bird
because one of the wings was broken. He and Claude had been waiting for months for the parts to arrive so they could fix it.
At the front of each hangar were two big doors that slid open. It meant you could wheel the aircraft out and onto the airstrip without their wings getting caught. The airstrip was a plain patch of mown and flattened grass with pegs along each side. It was just long and wide enough for those small early aircraft to taxi down and take off.
I had never been up in an aircraft myself – Dad always said it was too dangerous for children. But I loved to imagine how it would feel – to soar upwards, your heart lifting as you moved off the ground. Every time I thought about it I felt excited.
The Wright brothers had made the first aircraft flight powered by an engine in 1903, when I was three. That flight had lasted for 12 seconds and reached a height of 36 metres and a speed of 6.8 miles per hour. How incredible it must have been to do something that everyone else thought was impossible!
Since then, aircraft had developed a lot, but people were still only flying short distances. There had been short trips in France and America, and a daredevil flight across the English Channel in 1909. But for safety reasons, most pilots stuck to flying in circles above their home airfields.
I had asked Dad if I could learn to fly, but he told me of