Product Description
A flying trip to Alaska in the summer of 1995 was never dull. North America’s really high mountains were constant companions for 150 miles as we flew northwest along the base of the St. Elias and Wrangle Mountains. Sourdoughs and old bush pilots may find the views boring, but not four tourists in two flying machines. We meandered off course looking for photo ops; we gawked at glaciers flowing down from 18,000 foot peaks; and we tried to ignore the sudden blasts of turbulence caused by cold air rushing out of the side canyons.
Except for coastal fogs and forest fire smoke, the Alaskan skies were polished crystal. Visibility routinely reached beyond 100 miles. But now and then this stunning scenery was spoiled by the sinister crab nebula that sits in the Gulf of Alaska twirling like a pinwheel sucking up moisture from the sea, pushing rain over the mountains, and squashing clouds down to the spruce tops.
“Flying to Alaska” was written as a sequel to “Flying the Rim”, a book about the author’s search for uranium in the 1950s flying a Super Cub. “Flying to Alaska”, although shorter than the parent book, is a story that stands by itself. The text is about 13,000 words which would equate to a normal book length of under 60 pages.
In the final chapter of “Flying the Rim” (available in the Amazon Kindle Store) the reader is left standing on the tarmac at Mackenzie, British Columbia watching two airplanes disappearing in the distance. In retrospect the author left the reader in limbo, dropping a hint, but not telling the complete story of the fun and the excitement flying his own airplane from California to Alaska. That is the principle reason for writing a sequel to “Flying the Rim”.
But wait, there's more. The author has included a chapter on flying into the Frank Church River of no Return Wilderness Area of Idaho. Finally there is an appendix story that describes a flight from California to Oshkosh Wisconsin by a writer that every general aviation pilot around the world will instantly recognize.
Except for coastal fogs and forest fire smoke, the Alaskan skies were polished crystal. Visibility routinely reached beyond 100 miles. But now and then this stunning scenery was spoiled by the sinister crab nebula that sits in the Gulf of Alaska twirling like a pinwheel sucking up moisture from the sea, pushing rain over the mountains, and squashing clouds down to the spruce tops.
“Flying to Alaska” was written as a sequel to “Flying the Rim”, a book about the author’s search for uranium in the 1950s flying a Super Cub. “Flying to Alaska”, although shorter than the parent book, is a story that stands by itself. The text is about 13,000 words which would equate to a normal book length of under 60 pages.
In the final chapter of “Flying the Rim” (available in the Amazon Kindle Store) the reader is left standing on the tarmac at Mackenzie, British Columbia watching two airplanes disappearing in the distance. In retrospect the author left the reader in limbo, dropping a hint, but not telling the complete story of the fun and the excitement flying his own airplane from California to Alaska. That is the principle reason for writing a sequel to “Flying the Rim”.
But wait, there's more. The author has included a chapter on flying into the Frank Church River of no Return Wilderness Area of Idaho. Finally there is an appendix story that describes a flight from California to Oshkosh Wisconsin by a writer that every general aviation pilot around the world will instantly recognize.
