Customer Reviews

THE FLYING SUNBEAM

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"The Flying Sunbeam" is the book that I have had for the longest time of all the books in my library. It is autographed by the author, D. N. Fairbairn, who was a commercial airline pilot when he wrote it in 1950 and a neighbor of my parents in St. Albans, New York (I turned three that year and my sister was a newborn). He personally gave us my copy.

It has probably caused more children to think about flying than any other book one can recall. Not only is it an introduction to flying (in the form of a "Tell-a-Tale" book) but it is a glimpse into the past revealing much about flying and commercial aviation in that bygone era. The illustrations, likewise, provide a glimpse into the world of aviation when Douglas DC-4s and the Boeing Stratocruiser were state-of-the-art commercial aircraft. Piper Cubs, like this book, are, of course, timeless.

We read it to my daughter after her birth in 1982. She's now dating a commercial pilot; they just dropped by for their first visit together. It was only after they'd left that I thought about "The Flying Sunbeam" and my wife was able to instantly locate it. Would that I had remembered it sooner so that I could have shown it to my daughter's friend, who flies Boeing 737s, 757s, and is looking forward to the 787 Dreamliner with keen anticipation.

Much has changed in sixty-one years but for any parent with a love of aviation, and for any child who wants a chance to feel the excitement that flying offers, this is probably the best place there is to start.

After all these years, it's a great little children's book and for many adults, no doubt, including me, it brings back a flood of welcome memories.

If you know the book, read it again and rediscover your childhood. If you've never encountered it before, read it for the first time and learn for yourself why it has endured (five hits on Google for "The Flying Sunbeam" in July 2011) for so long.