Evangelos Papadacos, Ace of the Airways

I have a great admiration for good photography. Its a gift to have an 'eye' for a great picture. I have been spending the morning perusing the blog of the photojournalist who did the story of Lindsay, Matt Mendelsohn. His wedding photographs are works of art. Spending ten minutes looking at the moments of pure romance and joy that he captures makes one hopeful for the concept of true love in this world. To my surprise he also had a great family story to tell of his wife's great uncle, one of the true pioneers of early aviation. I was an air cadet for many years and have always been interested in the exploits of the early aviators. This story slipped my notice originally but no longer. These guys had courage like few before them or since. Check out the whole story by following the link at the bottom of the page and spend some time looking at his work here.

"We were really so excited to mark the 80th anniversary today of my wife Maya's great-uncle's legendary first-ever circumnavigation of the Mediterranean, a trip that energized the Greek nation back in 1928."

"Back in 1928, when long distance air travel was still left only to legendary explorers with names like Lindbergh and Byrd, Evangelos Papadacos piloted a Breguet 19 aircraft bearing the name "Hellas" on the very first trip around the Mediterranean. According to a newspaper article from the time of his death, Papadacos made the trip, which covered 12,000 kilometers, in 78 hours and 30 minutes. Flying with his navigator, Captain Adamidis, the pair's route took them on the following course: Leros--Aden--Haleppi--Benghazi--Algeria--Casablanca--Gibraltar--the Pyrenees--Orleans--Paris--Monaco--Vienna-Belgrade--Bucharest--Sofia--Philapopouli, and, finally, a landing in Salonica. And while American aviation lore of that time is firmly entrenched in the Lindbergh saga, one can't underestimate how important Vangeli's trip is from a European perspective."

http://www.mattmendelsohn.net/matt-mendelsohns-dark-slide/2008/8/6/evangelos-papadacos-ace-of-the-airways.html