Author/Artist Fulton

To Sign Books At The Booth

In 1932, at the age of 22, Robert E. Fulton, Jr, traveled solo around the world on a motorcycle, filming the entire 18-month trip with a 35mm movie camera. From London, through Europe, Syria, Iraq, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Japan, often without maps, Robert Fulton saw and captured the world on the verge of change.

Mr Fulton will be at the Cyrenius H. Booth Library on Sunday, April 16, from 2 to 5 pm, to speak about his adventures and to sign copies of The Long Journey Home (August Press, $25), a photographic essay of his amazing journey. The book, a collection of 85 stills from the more than 40,000 feet of original film, is a record of an extraordinary journey through a world that no longer exists. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and the proceeds of the sale will benefit the library.

Mr Fulton, 91, inventor, photographer, and artist, is the inventor of the Sky Hook Rescue system used covertly by the military during the cold war to retrieve espionage agents, and as a special effect in the 1965 James Bond film, Thunderball. A self-taught pilot, he invented the Gunairstructor, the first ground-based fighter pilot training device and successful precursor of current flight simulators.

He is the father of the Airphibian, the only vehicle in history that is both airplane and automobile; it was on display for 30 years at the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The Airphibian was very convenient. When the pilot landed the vehicle, it was simply a matter of unscrewing the propeller and removing the wings to convert it into an automobile. The Airphibian often made appearances at state fairs and other events as it traveled the country.

Mr Fulton’s 50-acre property along Platts Hill Road in Newtown features a 2,900-foot grass runway. The emergency airstrip is listed on most flight maps and is still used frequently by its owner. In recent years he has devoted his time to aerial photography, flying his P-51 Mustang upside down to get the best shots, and to his sculpture.

His work also is on display April 6 through 20 at Exhibit A Gallery, 160 Mercer Street, in New York City. For information about the show in Soho, call 212/343-0230 or e-mail exhibitasoho@aol.com.

For information about the book signing at the Booth Library, call 426-4533.