The
following books are available for on-line purchase from Amazon.com.
Important Note: Please use the links on our pages to order your
books, or we will not be credited with the sale. |
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From Stearmans to Starfighters: A Pilot's Memoir
By William H. Pickron, Jr. and Patricia D. West
Lt. Col. Bill Pickron dreamed of flying from the time he was five years old,
and fly he did - right into the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame. Bill soloed
in a Stearman and soared in a Starfighter, eventually piloting over 60
aircraft. His journey began as the Army Air Corps' youngest staff sergeant
pilot, took him to Iceland and the Pacific Theater in World War II, led him
to command the 525th squadron in Germany, and landed him in Rome teaching
the Italian Air Force how to fly F-104 Starfighters. At one time, many
considered him to be the best instrument pilot in the Air Force and the best
commander they ever had. After twenty-six years in the military, Bill kept
flying, this time for four Tennessee governors. Throughout it all, he had
the time of his life, and his stories are full of fun, adventure, and
occasionally some skullduggery. Bill lived his dream and always encouraged
others to live theirs - and to laugh along the way. |
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Biplane Odyssey: Flying
the Stearman to Every US State and Canadian Province in North America
By Alan Lopez
A detailed pilot narrative account of an amazing journey in a WWII primary
trainer. |
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Cannibal Queen: An Aerial Odyssey Across America
By Steven Coonts
The author of Flight of the Intruder recounts his three-month,
forty-eight-state flight into the heart of America in a 1942 Stearman
biplane, describing the panorama of forests, mountains, rivers, and valleys
beneath him.
From a Reader Review: "If you love to fly, this book will remind you
why. If you don't but read it anyway, you may find that you do and hadn't
known it. It played the same role in my becoming a pilot that Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance did in my learning to ride a motorcycle,
and my life is incomparably richer for both." |
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Flying Through Time: A Journey into History in a WWII
Biplane
By Jim Doyle
Tens of thousands of America’s pilots during World War II trained in the
Boeing Stearman biplane. For most, it was their first airplane in a series
of larger, faster, and more dangerous aircraft that they used to fight the
war. The pilots would never forget their first flights in a Stearman and the
adventures that followed. Jim Doyle, owner of a restored 1941 Stearman,
retraced the wartime journeys of his plane, crossing the country twice;
flying over California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; and
touching down at each of the eight bases at which it served. Flying Through
Time is the story of Doyle’s challenging flight and of the uncertainties of
piloting a sixty-year-old biplane almost 8,000 miles. His experiences
meeting, talking, and flying with the men who flew the legendary Stearman
paint a vivid picture of the intense, emotion-filled days of World War II.
The pilots’ recollections, refreshed for many when they took the controls of
Doyle’s plane, are woven throughout the narrative of his trip. These
anecdotes, and new information from an archive discovered during the flight,
tell of fears, courage, humor, and the sheer adventure of the events that
owned the veterans’ youth. This is seat-of-the-pants flying at its most
thrilling, recalling a time when ordinary young Americans were called upon
to be heroes. |
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Bull Stearman: The Story of the Stearman M-2 Speedmail
By Alan Lopez
The definitive history of a rare and legendary aircraft. Includes a brief
history of Stearman Aircraft Co. and a first person account of the last
flight and crash in the Yukon in 1939. |
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