Nevil Shute Norway Foundation

Flying Summary: THE RAINBOW AND THE ROSE

TITLE THE RAINBOW AND THE ROSE Remarks
Published: 1958  
Setting: 1950s with flashbacks to 1930s and World War I  
Story: A retired airline pilot sets up his own air taxi company and crashes whilst attempting a hazardous recovery of a sick child. In fever, he recalls his RFC flying and a tragic love affair with a lady aviator. A former colleague attempts a rescue in appalling weather conditions and encounters a lady from their past.  
Locations: Tasmania
Hounslow and The Western Front in WWI
An English Flying Club
 
Main Characters: Captain John Pascoe, retired Airline Pilot
Captain Ronnie Clark, Airline pilot
Mrs Brenda Marshall, Johnnie's student
 
Flying Episodes: All part of the Story  
Aircraft: DC6B; AusCan Airways; DC3
Taylorcraft; Auster
Clerget; Camel; DH Moth
 
Flying Characters: Johnnie Pascoe (RFC), later club instructor, then airline pilot, then air taxi pilot
Captain Ronnie Clark, airline pilot (DC6B)
Brenda Marshall, Johnnie's student
 
Aviation Location(s): As noted below  
Aviation Activities Tasmania (to/from isolated short strip)
RFC Training Flights near Hounslow
RFC aerial combat on the Western Front
Club Flying in England – Yorkshire and to France
Semi-routine airline operations
 
Additional Comments: A wonderful amalgam of flying. It combines hazardous rescue operations, with flashbacks to dare-devil RFC escapades, interwoven with a tragic love affair at a Yorkshire flying club.