Customer Reviews

CloudDancer's Alaskan Chronicles

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

As one who started his professional flying career in the Alaskan Arctic, and finished out as a Sled Driver in Kotzebue, I can't begin to tell you the memories that these stories bring back. And the thing is, they're all true. Same characters, same airplanes, same stuff still happening up there every day. Kotzebue is a Third World Country with a zip code, and for those of us who figured out how to survive it, it's one of the most amazing and fun places to fly on the planet.

From the new pilot thinking of taking the commercial path in Alaska bush flying, to us grizzled old farts who somehow survived all the years and all the thousands of hours of bad weather and shoddy equipment, this book is a must read. Hidden in the humor is a treasure chest of how-to-do weather flying and techniques for the novice Alaska flyer to draw from, and an intimate look at the native people of Alaska and what their world is really like.

. . . should you read the Chronicles?

You betcha, is my vote.

As you can see from the other reviews, pilots love these yarns. But anybody with the slightest interest in Bush Alaska and its larger-than-life characters, climate, and country will love the Chronicles, too.

Besides being a professional pilot with many thousands of hours in his logbook, Clouddancer is a soulful raconteur and a born storyteller. The best of these stories are people stories, and Clouddancer understands people, which is the most important thing in a writer.

That said, you have to make some allowances.

For one thing, as a writer, Clouddancer makes a great Bush pilot. By which I mean, he brings much enthusiasm and passion to his writing, but not-so-much polish (although we're working on that -- I'm his unofficial coach/consultant/cheerleader). So don't expect the kind of finely honed prose you'd find in an Ernest Hemingway novel (although there are comparable quantities of liquor and sex).

Also, about half of these stories are extremely technical accounts of various situations that come up in flying, both Bush and air-carrier. They'll be nearly incomprehensible to non-pilots, and perhaps not particularly interesting for those not into flying, per se.

But these are quibbles. I give the Chronicles 5 stars because they are, in total, really great Alaska flying books, of which there are far too few.

Stan Jones
One-time amateur Kotzebue Bush pilot, as well as author of the Nathan Active mystery series, which is set in a fictional Alaskan Eskimo village modeled on Kotzebue, where Clouddancer cut his Bush-flying teeth

Absolutely captures the spirit of bush flying in our great state- Seems absurd, but all too true, and part of why lots of us wouldn't want to fly anywhere else. CloudDancer has almost as big and well-deserved a following for his writing as Gwennie's does for their reindeer sausage. Want to know more... Buy It!

A very good read. And while I've never flown in the Arctic, personal experiences of similar nature in various other parts of the world made me feel right at home in learning about those little problems (being just a "little" too heavy for take off, needing that one part so desperately for your airplane, even polar bear attacks) that seem to plague professional aviators everywhere. Written in an easy-to-read, engaging, style. Well done.
This is Your Captain Speaking: A Common Sense Manual for Keeping Your Wings Level

I have flown AirTaxi in Alaska for many years. Cloudy's description of these events and of his career, while tongue in cheek, have more than a kernel of truth to them. In fact he tones down many of the actual experiences as, in truth, they may have been too unbelievable for a book. This book is a blast.