Robert Fulton Jr
One Man Caravan
Alcohol is definitely the worst drug known to man. It has always been thus. Ask Mike Carter. It was the reason Robert Fulton opened his mouth, at a party in London, in 1932. Wondering what to do with his life after university, when asked, he blurted out that he was going to ride a motorcycle around the world.
It happens.
Now, many will say that Fulton's journey was made easier because his father was the President of Mack Truck, he was given a Brough Twin motorcycle modified for him by the factory, and he was not short of funds. All true. Then again, this was 1932. How easy do you actually think it was?
Fulton lived a truly incredible life. Born in 1909, he was on board the very first commercial air flight, in 1921, from Miami to Havana. In 1923, he was present at the opening of King Tutankhamun's tomb. He later attended Harvard and the University of Vienna. After his adventure on a motorcycle, leading on from what he learned photographing and filming his journey, he would go on to become a pioneer of aerial photography and sound recording. He invented the Gunairstuctor for fighter-pilot gunnery training, the Airphibian flying car, sculptured water wings, and the Skyhook air-sea rescue system. Not too shabby.
The story related in One Man Caravan is astonishing, given that he made his journey solo, through some of the most hostile territories, dangerous conditions and, in a lot of cases, actually going where no motorcycle had ever gone before. on what is [now considered to be] a pretty primitive machine. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman may have ridden modern BMWs through Kazhakstan but Fulton rode a Brough Twin through Afghanistan and the Khyber Pass. He visited places that no longer exist in our modern world, through jungles that are now someone's window frames, countries that were torn apart by war... oh, wait. Yeah, you get my drift.
As with Sulkowsky and Bartha's equally epic odyssey, Fulton's account is like reading a Boy's Own Adventure from a time long ago. Whatever help and assistance he had, it doesn't make his journey any less incredible.
*** There is a DVD called Twice Upon A Caravan which features footage shot by Fulton on his journey, although I have yet to source a copy***
It happens.
Now, many will say that Fulton's journey was made easier because his father was the President of Mack Truck, he was given a Brough Twin motorcycle modified for him by the factory, and he was not short of funds. All true. Then again, this was 1932. How easy do you actually think it was?
Fulton lived a truly incredible life. Born in 1909, he was on board the very first commercial air flight, in 1921, from Miami to Havana. In 1923, he was present at the opening of King Tutankhamun's tomb. He later attended Harvard and the University of Vienna. After his adventure on a motorcycle, leading on from what he learned photographing and filming his journey, he would go on to become a pioneer of aerial photography and sound recording. He invented the Gunairstuctor for fighter-pilot gunnery training, the Airphibian flying car, sculptured water wings, and the Skyhook air-sea rescue system. Not too shabby.
The story related in One Man Caravan is astonishing, given that he made his journey solo, through some of the most hostile territories, dangerous conditions and, in a lot of cases, actually going where no motorcycle had ever gone before. on what is [now considered to be] a pretty primitive machine. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman may have ridden modern BMWs through Kazhakstan but Fulton rode a Brough Twin through Afghanistan and the Khyber Pass. He visited places that no longer exist in our modern world, through jungles that are now someone's window frames, countries that were torn apart by war... oh, wait. Yeah, you get my drift.
As with Sulkowsky and Bartha's equally epic odyssey, Fulton's account is like reading a Boy's Own Adventure from a time long ago. Whatever help and assistance he had, it doesn't make his journey any less incredible.
*** There is a DVD called Twice Upon A Caravan which features footage shot by Fulton on his journey, although I have yet to source a copy***