Product Description
The year is 1912, the height of the Progressive Era, and America is literally taking flight. It's the heyday of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and stunt flyer Lincoln Beachey. The movie business is sprouting in Los Angeles. War is brewing in Europe. Airplanes capture the world's imagination. Then out of the blue comes Herkimer Dawes, the circumspect adventurer of Dan Spencer's spirited novel.
Raised wealthy and stubborn, Herkimer shuns the family soap-making business to fly airplanes, the new international phenomenon. California beckons. He travels to San Diego to learn aeronautics and there he meets seductive Eloise, an actress who turns his life topsy-turvy. In no time, Herkimer enters the high-paying ranks of professional exhibition stunt flyers. A natural-born aviator if ever there was one, he devises an aerial act that brings élan to an otherwise reckless profession. But the public reacts tepidly to his talent. They prefer the outrageously dangerous antics of master birdman Lincoln Beachey. His death-defying stunts thrill the world and rile his competitors.
Thus a rivalry is born between Herkimer Dawes and the much-ballyhooed Beachey. Herkimer vows to outclass the fabled flyer. Even if he dies trying.
Raised wealthy and stubborn, Herkimer shuns the family soap-making business to fly airplanes, the new international phenomenon. California beckons. He travels to San Diego to learn aeronautics and there he meets seductive Eloise, an actress who turns his life topsy-turvy. In no time, Herkimer enters the high-paying ranks of professional exhibition stunt flyers. A natural-born aviator if ever there was one, he devises an aerial act that brings élan to an otherwise reckless profession. But the public reacts tepidly to his talent. They prefer the outrageously dangerous antics of master birdman Lincoln Beachey. His death-defying stunts thrill the world and rile his competitors.
Thus a rivalry is born between Herkimer Dawes and the much-ballyhooed Beachey. Herkimer vows to outclass the fabled flyer. Even if he dies trying.
