One Zero Charlie: Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation [Hardcover]

Laurence Gonzales (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0671742787 | ISBN-13: 978-0671742782 | Publication Date: January 22, 1993 | Edition: First Edition

A look at private aviation focuses on Galt Airport in northern Illinois, describing the flying men and women who have made it special. 15,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gonzales ( The Still Point ) conveys the mystique of piloting an aircraft; when he writes of the freedom and joys the skies afford he approaches the lyricism of Saint-Exupery. But in his portraits of others similarly obsessed with flying and with speed, and with his emphasis on aerobatics, he loses his primary focus, which is the disappearance of "grass roots airports" like Galt, near Chicago, Gonzales's headquarters. Although his lament for the vanishing small airfields is heartfelt, few readers are likely to share Gonzales's passionate regret that small private planes are also becoming extinct.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is an arresting book on private aviation, wherein the author describes, in storytelling fashion, how what appears to most of us as a hobby is actually a way of life bordering on obsession to the many who are intimately involved. The importance of "general" as opposed to "commercial" aviation is never quite spelled out, but readers will be both entertained and moved by this compelling portrait. Gonzales, author of The Still Point (Univ. of Arkansas Pr., 1990), successfully tells of the men and women who pursue this lifestyle and the needs and desires that drive them. Packed with a variety of tales from snowblind takeoff and landings to the horrors of plane crashes, the book is full of action. Recommended for popular aviation collections.
- Eric C. Shoaf, Duke Univ. Lib., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (January 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671742787
• ISBN-13: 978-0671742782
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,782,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurence Gonzales has lectured before groups ranging from the Santa Fe Institute to Legg Mason Capital Management and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His books include "Deep Survival," "Everyday Survival," "One Zero Charlie," and "Lucy." He lives in Evanston, Illinois.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adventures in Aerobatics, September 12, 2000

By 

ragwing (Mississaga, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Zero Charlie: Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation (Hardcover)

"One Zero Charlie" doesn't have much of a plot, being more of a collection of vignettes from the recreational pilot lifestyle. I obtained this book from the public library, but I enjoyed it sufficiently that I intend to purchase a copy for my own library. If you are a weekend pilot, or if you have enjoyed similar books like "Zero Three Bravo", "Weekend Wings", "Flight of Passage", "A Gift of Wings", etc. etc., I think that you would probably enjoy "One Zero Charlie" as well. The book does discuss two or three fatal accidents, all of which occurred during aerobatic practice. The author makes it clear that aerobatics is an inherently risky - but deeply satisfying- hobby.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book about Flying and Aerobatics, January 7, 2004

By 

George B. Norris (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Zero Charlie: Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation (Hardcover)

Some may not like the emphasis of the book, but for what it does describe, it does very well. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of a better book in this area. The recent Joshua Cooper Ramo book "No Visible Horizon" was an extremely poor effort by comparision. I think the balance described between author's natural caution and great joy in flying is described very well. It presents a accurate picture of what the "grass roots" private pilot should be (and actually is in most of my experience) ... cautious and joyful as opposed to reckless and ego-driven.

I read this book first in 1996, about a year after I got my pilot's certificate and during a time when I was really begining to experience "grass roots" aviation by getting a tailwheel endorsement in a Piper Cub. The content rang true then against my early experiences and spiked my interest in actually trying aerobatics. I talked to some local competitive akro pilots and was looking at taking some aerobatic training. In the years since I have done many more of the things the book explores (including buying a share in and flying the Pitts Special, which is very well described in the book). It all still rings true, even after I have seen, met, and talked to people in the book or those that know (or knew) them. Some of the "rowdy" behavior described at the aerobatic contest isn't seen during current IAC contests I've participated in and wouldn't be tolerated today. I'm told it was more relaxed 15 years ago.

The risks are real, but, as Gonzales says, are at least partially managable by the average pilot. A few accidents do occur every year, but many are preventable, with good maintenance and pilot decision making. A aerobatic pilot that doesn't "push the envelope" and avoids flying low (i.e. "airshows") can reasonably expect as long a life as anybody else. And by the way, I've never rolled a Pitts on takeoff and don't plan to! But the pleasures and risks of flying inside the whole envelope are eloquently described here and is hard to equal elsewhere!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must reading for all pilots, November 23, 1999

By 

Russell E. Bell (Palisade, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Zero Charlie: Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation (Hardcover)

This book covers the material masterfully. He explores the dark underbelly of what drives us to fly. He also reminds us of the people who forget "THE LECTURE". I don't recommend it for the person you wish to coax into the air, but for yourself, read it again, and remember the dangers. Use it to remind yourself that the urge must be controlled or else, like Amos, you will be sacrificed to it.