The Cockpit : A Flight of Escape and Discovery [Hardcover]

Paul M. Gahlinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2000

In 1992, ignoring the advice of every aviation expert who said it couldn't be done, a university professor decided to fly his small Cessna alone from California to South Africa. Plagued with horrendous weather, mechanical glitches, and uncooperative governments, nothing went right from the beginning. Yet, despite ice- and sandstorms, an earthquake, and the threat of civil war, he made it safely to his distant destination. His journey became a personal metaphor for the search for meaning in life and the crazy, breathtaking things that one man would do to find it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An incredible, insane adventure. -- reader

You can't read this and not want to fly. And you can hardly believe that he survived. --reader

About the Author

Paul M. Gahlinger is adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Utah and has trained as a bush pilot. He is a consultant for NASA and is the author of Northern Manitoba from Forest to Tundra and Illegal Drugs. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sagebrush Press (UT); illustrated edition edition (November 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970313004
• ISBN-13: 978-0970313003
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,163,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique, fascinating, true-life tale, March 19, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cockpit : A Flight of Escape and Discovery (Hardcover)

The Cockpit: A Flight Of Escape And Discovery is the story of Paul Gahlinger, a university science professor who decided to fly his small Cessna aircraft from California to South Africa. Gahlinger ignored the pronouncements of every aviation official that such a flight could not be done. From the beginning nothing came easy or worked quite right. Governments refused to give him permission to fly over their countries. The weather was horrendous. His airplane as an aging, under-equipped machine beset by mechanical glitches. But he persevered through ice-storms, sand-storms, an earthquake, and the threat of civile war to successfully accomplish his flight and make it to his intended destination. As his story progresses, Gahlinger weaves together the history and mechanics of flight with his real-life adventure. The Cockpit is a unique, fascinating, true-life tale of hazardous personal adventure and the unconquerable human spirit.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Too Much to Believe., May 14, 2001

By 

C. Bartlett "bartalaska" (Tucson AZ, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cockpit : A Flight of Escape and Discovery (Hardcover)

A beautifully written story of one man and his airplane searching for an elusive goal, which he has not yet found. A brilliant PhD and MD, he relates so many accomplishments in his matter-of fact way that I was tempted to create a time-line to see how he could have accomplished so much at such a young age. He weaves the art and science of flying into his tale, explaining how the instruments work, adding entertaining bits of history, astronomy, and other sciences, educating while entertaining, much like Asimov. I am a fast reader, but read this book twice, to savor in the second reading the beautifully crafted prose. An exceptional book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving!, October 11, 2004

By 

kthdimension (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cockpit : A Flight of Escape and Discovery (Hardcover)

Dr. Gahlinger chronicles his experience flying from CA to South Africa (actually Egypt, but that is beside the point) in this wonderfully lucid and entertaining book. Superficially, the book is about flight, but metaphorically, however, Dr. Gahlinger takes us on his mental & emotional transformation from what appears to be a transition from being an academic doctor to becoming a medical doctor (among other things). I've taken a course from Dr. Gahlinger and very much enjoyed reveling in the details of his life --- his story is an inspirational one!! An outstanding read!