Showing titles in Aviation

In late 1941, President Roosevelt agonized over the rapid advances of the Japanese forces in Asia. They seemed unstoppable. He foresaw their intentions of taking India and linking up with the two other Axis powers, Germany and Italy, in an attempt to conquer the Eastern Hemisphere. US naval forces had been severely surprised and diminished in Pearl Harbor, and the army was outnumbered and ill prepared to take on the invading hoards.

For more than a century, plane crashes have been among the scariest catastrophes imaginable. The toll on human life is devastating. Yet, as this fascinating book reveals, there are some who defy the odds and survive the unsurvivable. In this riveting collection of true stories from sole survivors, we get an inside look at their harrowing ordeal that changed their lives forever. We get a glimpse of their lives before and after the accident, explore the possible causes of their plane crash, and dive into the haunting yet fascinating details of the fateful day they fell from the sky.

Airports of Western Washington and Oregon form the backdrop for flying adventures in the Pacific Northwest. Take the controls of a Piper Arrow, as your personal flight instructor leads you to out-of-the-way spots where recreational aircraft provide the freedom to pursue cherished goals. Hints for cross-county and local flying presented by a 7000-hour FAA certified flight instructor. For armchair pilots and experienced pros, this book is an escape so realistic you’ll swear you’re airborne.

How can one pilot cram so much into a single lifetime? Climb into Captain Terry Reece's cockpit, fasten your seatbelt, and hold on for an exciting journey into the world of aviation. Born to a family of transplanted North Carolinians who moved to Washington State, a young Reece explored the hills of the Pacific Northwest. Hiking in the mountains and being a fire lookout gave him a taste of adventure, but he craved more-and he got it.

Being James Bond is dedicated to learning and exploring all we need to know so that we can experience life the way James Bond does. It's a 'how-to' guide, on anything James Bond can do or has done. If James Bond can do it, we can do it!

If you've ever gazed up the sky and wondered what life would be like as a flight attendant...wonder no more! Before you apply for a job as a flight attendant/cabin crew, listen to this quick start guide! This book breaks down the misconceptions of the career, sorts out fact from fiction, provides you with a look into the life of flight crew, helps you select the right airline for you, and provides you with a secret weapon to ace your interview with flying colors! You'll be prepared to answer every question with confidence and ease.

Now on the race’s centennial, award-winning author David K. Randall tells the story of this riveting, long-forgotten race. Through larger-than-life characters, treacherous landings, disease, and ultimately triumph, Into Unknown Skies demonstrates how one race returned America to aviation greatness. A story of underdog teammates, bold exploration, and American ingenuity, Into Unknown Skies is an untold adventure tale showing the power of flight to bring the world together.

The recent Hollywood film Hidden Figures presents a portrait of how African American women shaped the US effort in aerospace during the height of Jim Crow. In Storming the Heavens, Gerald Horne presents the necessary back story to this account and goes further to detail the earlier struggle of African Americans to gain the right to fly.

General aviation encompasses all the ways aircraft are used beyond commercial and military flying: private flights, barnstormers, cropdusters, and so on. This history examines the many airplanes used in general aviation, from early Wright and Curtiss aircraft to the Piper Cub and the Lear Jet. The authors trace the careers of birdmen, birdwomen, barnstormers, and others who shaped general aviation.

>"Log Book: Instrument flying. Slow descent, first. Going down fast. It takes a lot to make my ears hurt. Five thousand now. Awfully wet. Water dripping in window. Port motor coughing. Sounds as if all motors were cutting. Bill opens her wide to try to clear. Sounds rotten on the right...." This true-life adventure story is Amelia Earhart's personal account of an historic flight.

On February 21, 1943, Pan American Airways' celebrated seaplane, the Yankee Clipper, took off from New York's Marine Air Terminal and island-hopped its way across the Atlantic Ocean. Arriving at Lisbon the following evening, it crashed in the Tagus River, killing twenty-four of its thirty-nine passengers and crew. Americans in a World at War traces the backstories of seven worldly Americans aboard that plane, their personal histories, their politics, and the paths that led them toward war.

In First Crossing, we follow the two Royal Air Force officers from their separate upbringings in Manchester, England through terrifying Great War aerial combat. Both would be shot down and become prisoners of war. While incarcerated, both independently dreamed and schemed of a way to win Lord Northcliffe’s £10,000 prize for the first non-stop Trans-Atlantic crossing.

A cocky, green pilot flies an old Cessna 150 across the United States in 1994. The "Kid" and his gonzo passenger Doc take to the skies in an unforgettable misadventure. From Scottsdale Airport, the "Canary" takes off and attempts to cross the "hump" on its passage eastward.

Since the test pilot Harold Harris became the first man to save his life with a parachute in 1922 there have been over 120,000 air force pilots and crew who owe their lives to their parachutes. Into the Silk is full of astounding tales of people who against the odds bailed out of their planes and were therefore able to enter the annals of the Caterpillar Club, a society open only to men and women who survive aviation disaster with the aid of a parachute.

For Ed Sykes, aka World's Greatest Fighter Pilot, saying something is impossible only makes him want to do it more! The Patch and the Stream Where the American Fell tell his inspiring story of never giving up, whether that be achieving his dream of being a fighter pilot or fulfilling the oath: "Leave No Man Behind."

The First Space Race reveals the inside story of an epic adventure with world-altering stakes. From 1955 to 1958, American and Soviet engineers battled to capture the world's imagination by successfully launching the world's first satellite. The race to orbit featured two American teams led by rival services - the US Army and the Navy - and a Soviet effort so secret that few even knew it existed. This race ushered in the Space Age with a saga of science, politics, technology, engineering, and human dreams.

Follow along step-by-step as Wrigley recreates the flight and its disappearance. Review the many varied theories as to how it could have happened - up to and including alien abduction. The Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 also introduces a variety of related crashes and incidents, allowing listeners to draw their own conclusions.

Kelly Johnson designed the Blackbird, a plane that flew non-stop from London to Los Angeles in less than four hours, outracing the sun and landing four hours before it had taken off, a remarkable feat - and this was more than 35 years ago. Johnson was the innovative genius behind Lockheed's "Skunk Works", and played a leading role in the development of more than forty aircraft, including some of America's most sophisticated planes such as the Constellation, Shooting Star, F-104, U-2, and the SR-71 Blackbird.

Amelia Earhart flew solo over the Atlantic, afterward receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, and began championing the efforts of women to explore careers traditionally held by men. Tragically, just days before her 40th birthday, her plane vanished en route to a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean as she neared the end of her round-the-world journey. After an exhaustive search, no trace of the plane or Amelia was ever found.

Award-winning journalist and leading consumer advocate William J. McGee offers a shocking, essential exposé that reveals the real state of the "friendly skies". From outsourced call centers in India to the Alabama location where all lost baggage ends up, William J. McGee crisscrossed the country and traveled around the globe immersing himself deep into the world of commercial airlines. And what he found was shocking.