Customer Reviews

Mavericks of the Sky: The First Daring Pilots of the U.S. Air Mail

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"Mavericks of the Sky" seems to have generated a small firestorm of debate over whether it is an outstanding book or not even worth the time and effort to read. Having just finished the book, here's my assessment of the pros and cons of this book:

PROS

1) This is a good introductory look at the history of early commercial and air mail aviation. I've never read anything about this subject before, and was captivated by the bare-knuckle drama of the entire enterprise.

2) The book immediately immerses the reader in the danger and unexpected nature of early flight within the first few pages.

3) The authors do a great job of presenting the astounding obstacles of time, money, weather, manpower and resources to the development of a reliable air mail service.

4) The research is documented and footnoted in the back of the book to assist further reading.

5) The photographs are wonderful glimpses into an all-but-forgotten world, where the joie d'vivre and devil-may-care attitude of early flight (as well as the lines of care and constant exposure to danger) are clearly visible in the eyes and faces of the aircrews involved.

CONS

1) There are no maps in a book that talks about developing landing strips and air routes in little-known areas of the country. At least one good map in a book of this nature would have been most useful.

2) A bibliography would have been helpful to those seeking further reading.

3) The bios of the pilots might have been better served as sidebars or separate vignettes entitled "The Airmen" or some such, rather than weaving them with varying effectiveness throughout the story (i.e., "Wild" Bill Hopson).

4) The tone of the book fluctuates unexpectedly between scholarly and popular fiction, and sometimes even goes completely over the top (such as inventing an imaginary shooting script for Douglas Fairbank's war bond air mail promotion).

5) At times, the passage of time is difficult to track as the authors jump forward, then backtrack to tell other portions of the story.

As a popular and easily accessible introduction to the world of early air mail, "Mavericks of the Sky" is a fine read despite the few failings and foibles noted above. The best recommendation that I can give is what I'll do next ... pass it on to a friend who is a pilot and loves the history of early aviation.

In the historical non-fiction, Mavericks of the Sky, the authors have recounted the exacting tale of bold men during the last stages of World War One. With hardened courage they worked against the grain of public and political opinion, and boldly took steps to create the first United States Air Mail Service.

With a shoestring budget, cast-off military equipment and neophyte pilots with a sense of daring unequalled in this day and age, two sons of Texas--Albert Burleson and Otto Praeger--stood firm in their convictions. The future of the United States Postal service lay in creating a service that would take advantage of the Wright Brothers flight accomplishment only a few years earlier.

The feat accomplished by Praeger and his men in less than three years was the precursor to all flight operations that take place on a day-to-day basis in this country today.

From an inauspicious and somewhat deadly beginning, the US Air Mail Service was forged by the guts and sweat of Praeger and the first pilots of the aptly nicknamed "Suicide Club." This small group of dedicated men spawned the first commercial U.S. airlines and the person-to-person connection by mail that we hold so dear today.

The account of the first transcontinental flight on February 22-23, 1921, from San Francisco to New York, is awe-inspiring in itself. The fact it was accomplished in the time (33 hours and 20 minutes) we consider industry standard today is astounding. The bar was set high during those two days. The difference: today we use high-flying jet aircraft to deliver our airmail shipments. In 1921 a half dozen pilots used a variety of single engine, open cockpit aircraft made of canvas and wood, in all weather, rarely flying higher than ten thousand feet.

Armchair Interviews says: In Mavericks of the Sky Barry Rosenburg and Catherine Macauley extensively researched and gave us a concise accounting of these men and the trials and tribulations they endured in the effort to construct the delivery systems for the U.S. Mail.

A chance purchase at the airport bookstore resulted in an enjoyable flight across the country while immersed in the early days of Flying.

Having already been captivated by this subject after reading Beryl Markham's "West with the Night", this view of flight's maturation and the start of its commercialinzation process was fascinating.

It led to many questions including what lessons might be derived from this experience as NASA attempts to move towards commercialiation efforts of its own. It made me crave more in depth analysis of specific problem solving methods and long for a map of the various fields and distances.

There are intriguiing modern day parallels on how to apply technology and the process via which technology can be deployed to affect improvement, efficiency, and service.

There is no better material than that which entertains, leades to questions, and furthers an interest!

If you already have an interest in the topic or if you never wondered how the whole thing got started but it now sounds intriguing, I strongly recommend this book!

Such detail that you feel like you in the plane with them. Get read from front to back. BUY THIS.

Mavericks of the Sky brings to life a seldom remembered tale of when the U.S. Postal service (as opposed to airlines and contractors) flew the mail. For a decade, young men, many recently released from military service, climbed into wood and fabric biplanes to conquer gravity, weather and imperfect aircraft to get the mail through.

A few technical errors creep in: in one instance they say that one of the pilots became a flier because pilots were lauded in print and radio. The trouble is the authors were referring to 1920, years before commercial broadcasting began. Later, they refer to the Junkers mail planes as "twin-engined". Sorry, the Junkers had one engine. As a pilot and aviation historian, I get the feeling that the authors aren't in their usual element as the author's descriptions of the people involved seem a lot surer than their descriptions of equipment and flight. Still, it's impressive that someone took the time to research a little remembered slice of aviation history.

I found myself wishing they had taken their story to the end of the Post Office flying operations in 1926.

A suggestion for a future book, a look at how the ill-equipped U.S. Army Air Corp was tasked with flying the mail after FDR hastily cancelled airline contracts in 1934 on the assumption that the bidding process was somehow rigged. His action, however welcome it was by his populist "anti-big corporation" voter base, condemned a dozen Army flies to death by making them fly in harsh conditions they, nor their aircraft, were suited for.

Any interested in the mail service and its origins must pursue MAVERICKS OF THE SKY: THE FIRST DARING PILOTS OF THE U.S. AIR MAIL: it highlights a nearly-forgotten piece of history in covering the aces who both pioneered flight and linked the airplane to the US Air Mail Service, from the inaugural New York to Washington DC flight in 1918 to the night flight which would make airmail a mainstay. These pilots were World War 1 aces who returned as heroes but wanted to translate their flying skills to civilian life: MAVERICKS OF THE SKY charts their course and their impact on today's mail services.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

"Mavericks of the Sky" is a well-researched, interestingly-crafted telling of the early days of the U.S. Postal Service's air delivery service. Full of anecdotal tales stretching from the humble beginnings up until the departure of the key founders of the service, the book provides keen insight into the motivations and driving forces behind air transport of the mail. It is a good read.

However, what prevents this from being a great survey of the early air mail services are many of the objections of previous reviewers, namely a lack of maps and charts and other graphical data to statistically support the commentary (I for one, would have loved some graphical/statistical depictions of the various aircraft discussed) as well as insight into the overall reception and reaction of airmail service from those in power and those on the street (never do we learn whether the general public or elected officials appreciate the expedited air mail or not).

Furthermore, in reality, the story is really the story of air mail service during the Wilson administration with only minor attention paid to the service in subsequent administrations. Very little detail is provided about the privatization of the service in later years and no anecdotal stories from this daring period are provided (i.e. the development of Charles Lindbergh's piloting skills that would ultimately lead to his Atlantic-crossing solo flight).

But, for anyone wishing to discover the details, facts, stories and people behind the earliest days of U.S. Airmail, "Mavericks of the Sky" provides a very solid and very good starting point. Using the notes provided by the authors, one can glean additional sources to further one's study. Overall, this book is worthy of purchase to any mail, aviation, or 20th century history buff.

I am a pilot and picked this book up off the discount rack because I am always interested in learning more about the people who have made my career possible. I thought that the book was clear and well written. There are a few small hiccups that interrupt an otherwise clearly flowing history of the U.S. Air mail.

You pretty much have to be an aero-phile (my word for aviation fanatic), history buff, or have some freakish interest in the U.S. Postal service to enjoy this book, definitely not for a casual reader. A quick, clear history of the U.S. Air Mail and the daring men and woman who have helped make aviation what it is today!

Congratulations are in order to the authors of Mavericks of the Sky. Barry Rosenberg and Catherine Macaulay managed to create a story, almost three hundred pages, about the beginnings of air mail in the United States that could have been all summed up in their thirty page epilogue. Rosenberg and Macaulay, at first, seem to be well proven authors with many successful publications under their belts. Both have published work for publications such as Aviation Week & Space Technology, E/The Environment Magazine, and the Daily Racing Forum. It is important to remember that looks can be deceiving.

Webster's Dictionary defines Maverick as a person or individual that does not get along well with others. It is quite odd that that Rosenberg and Macaulay would title their work and label the founding men of aviation and air mail as "Mavericks", but maybe the name was stolen from Top Gun. The book basically sums up the stories of the early pioneers of aviation that led to the formation of air mail and the airlines as we know them today. It is quite amazing that a topic of such interest could be told in such a confusing and unprofessional manner as Rosenberg and Macaulay demonstrated.

Mavericks of the Sky begins with the ill famous story of Major Reuben Hollis Fleet, and his tedious role in the formation of the air mail service. The book continues with the story of Major Fleet and introduces numerous amounts of characters that some how had a role in early air mail service. The authors present a story that would be quite sufficient for the average 7th grader, but not for anyone who has the slightest inclination about the overwhelming amount of information that should be told about the pioneers of the air mail service.

Rosenberg and Macaulay are successful in telling the story of the air mail service as much like a comedy skit off of Saturday Night Live. Both continually change from the tone of a scholarly author to that of one that seems to be writing an episode of Seinfeld. It is easy to spot numerous examples throughout the book where both authors display a carefree attitude in the telling of an incident, and the average reader loses the historical meaning of the incident, because they become caught up in a joke. The authors may simply be meaning to poke harmlessly at the mishaps of these early pioneers, but it is suggested that they stick to a more serious attitude when discussing men who lost their lives day in and day out to further a dream.

The epilogue of this book was much more beneficial that reading the story itself. Information was presented better and more organized than through the twenty something chapters in Mavericks of the Sky. The epilogue simply shortened all the various stories presented throughout the book and got right to the point instead of a bunch of ad lib.

Rosenberg and Macaulay deserve much credit on the pictures contained in the book, because they give the book much more character. It is easy to gain a lot of understanding of what early aviation was like by flipping through the pictures contained within this book, but it is sad that neither author can take credit for these pictures. Pictures make a book very personnel and these deliver the wide array of attitudes presented by these men and women just be looking into their eyes.

This book is a great recommendation for anyone interested in a quick read with little information. Mavericks of the Sky, is very selective in the stories it tells about the formation and development of the air mail service in the United States. If the reader desires to have a more detailed understanding of these pioneers and their stories, it is recommended that this book be passed up and one chosen by someone who actually can write a historical work of non-fiction!

In Mavericks of the Sky, Barry Rosenberg and Catherine Macaulay present the daring and heroic tale of the first set of air mail pilots in the world. Mavericks of the Sky brings to life the many characters who risked their lives on a daily basis in order for the delivery of the mail. The pilots of the United States Air Mail conquered the impossible task of transporting cargo on a regular schedule through inhospitable terrain and weather. Unfortunately, an interesting topic becomes tedious due to poor writing and poor organization.

According to the back cover of the book, Barry Rosenberg and Catherine Macaulay are both professional writers who have made their livings writing for various magazines. Having written for Aviation Week and Space Technology, Rosenberg is the only writer with aviation writing experience. It appears that neither Rosenberg nor Macaulay has written a book of any length. One particularly trying item is the authors' tendency to interject curse words into the exposition. It is simply out of place in a scholarly and historical work to use words such as "hell" and "damn" to underscore a point. Furthermore, Rosenberg and Macaulay do not even use the curse words to underscore a point. The words only serve to detract and distract from the writers ultimate purpose - whatever that may be.

Mavericks of the Sky suffers from a lack of discernable purpose. The authors possess a broad purpose of informing the reader about the United States Air Mail operation. However, this is a wide topic and the authors address many topics that are outside of the purview of the history of the air mail system. Rosenberg and Macaulay often stray from their supposed topic to enlighten the reader on postal history or the history of Belmont Park. While these items may seem interesting in a historical context, the frequent digressions of the authors detract from the overall purpose and meaning of the book. The scope of Mavericks of the Sky is far too broad. While the title states that the book is about the "first daring pilots of the U.S. air mail," it seems that the authors meander through a history of the air mail whilst only mentioning the pilots when it becomes necessary in the storyline.

In the end, it seems that Rosenberg and Macaulay cannot make a decision on which authorial voice they wish to use. At times, the authors use a scholarly voice to discuss the heroes of the airmail. However, at other times, Rosenberg and Macaulay opt or a more entertaining approach as if trying to make the reader laugh at seemingly innocuous details. Early in the book, the authors recount the arrival of Lt. George Boyle at the airfield in Washington, D.C. the day of the inaugural mail run. With President Woodrow Wilson present, Postmaster General Albert Sidney Burleson rushes to meet Boyle with a bouquet of spring flowers in hand. Rosenberg and Macaulay interject with, "the sight of the notoriously terse postmaster general holding a bunch of spring flowers in his arms, trying to pass them over to man clad in all leather appeared awkward at best." What does this statement mean? Are the authors implying that Boyle and Burleson were gay? Are the authors implying that Boyle and Burleson were homosexuals involved in sadomasochism? While it is likely that the authors are simply trying to make light of a humorous occurrence, both the joke and the implication are irrelevant and improper in a work of historical non-fiction.

Rosenberg and Macaulay display a clear lack of understanding of their subject throughout Mavericks of the Sky. Aviation, and specifically aviation history, requires an understanding of the dynamics of flight, the inherent risk involved, and the enormous sacrifice that all aviators must make to pursue the dream of flight. Early in the air mail service, the authors describe the organization as "an operational nightmare reflecting a mere 78 percent on-time success rate." Only fifteen years after the first flight at Kitty Hawk, a four out of five success rate does not seem so horrific. Without the aid of instrument navigation, weather reports, or reliable aircraft instrumentation the aviators were lucky to arrive at their destination at all. Most appalling of all, is the flippant terms and jokes the authors make several times throughout the book. At one point, the authors refer to the air mail service as "Uncle Sam's Suicide Club." In a book where the supposed main purpose is to inform the reader of the history of the United States Air Mail, referring to the sacrifices made by the heroic aviators so flippantly is preposterous. To refer to an aviator and soldier's ultimate sacrifice for his country and his love for aviation as a "suicide club" is morally irreprehensible. In the lengthy epilogue, the authors note that forty-three American citizens lost their lives in service of the air mail. The authors commit an egregious violation of trust and simple good taste by referring to the air mail pilots as part of a "suicide club."

In conclusion, Mavericks of the Sky is an interesting topic that is poorly executed. The authors continually sabotage their own attempts at proper writing through poor organization and poor writing. The time of the United States Air Mail service is an exciting and interesting time in the history of America and the history of aviation. Unfortunately, Barry Rosenberg and Catherine Macaulay have not done the aviators justice.