Flight of Passage - book

jbrinker

jbrinker

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jbrinker
Was given this book for my birthday by my wife. Just finished it last weekend. Really loved it, just enough adventure, true-to-life shenanigans, and airplane stuff to keep just about anyone interested. Fun to poke around on the internet too and look up the actual people, planes, and news items that the story is about.

If you haven't read it, its certainly worth the $12 or whatever it costs. Anyone local that wants to borrow my copy is welcome to.
 
Does Georgia fit into your definition of local? :p
 
Great read.

Also a great way to realize nobody would ever be able to do that nowadays, all sorts of people would have their undies in a wad.

Maybe rightly so, dunno... you decide.
 
denverpilot said:
Great read.

Also a great way to realize nobody would ever be able to do that nowadays, all sorts of people would have their undies in a wad.
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Sure you could. You'd just have to be a bit more careful about controlled airspace.
 
And if you can read the section about taking off in California with a load of fruit without laughing yourself silly, you have no sense of humor. Loved that book.
 
Dana said:
Sure you could. You'd just have to be a bit more careful about controlled airspace.
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At the ages in the book, someone would turn the parents in for child abuse. LOL. Can’t even send kids to the park by themselves without that happening these days.

Not me, but someone would. Probably some well meaning FBO employee when they came in and paid cash for the gas. They wouldn’t have a credit card for self-serve. :)
 
He has a more recent book out. He took another trip with another brother, across the Oregon Trail in a wagon, with zero electronics. I haven't read it, but it got positive reviews.
 
It is an enjoyable book. I should read it again, it has been maybe 10 years.

But there is quite a bit of "artistic license" involved in some scenes. One that makes me laugh is the whole section about crossing Guadalupe Peak in Texas - how they barely made it through the pass, headwinds, turbulence, the engine straining to climb to 10,000 feet or something, etc. Well, if you look at the chart: https://skyvector.com/?ll=31.855397753803693,-104.85864257347966&chart=301&zoom=2&fpl=4036N09850W GR you can easily see that Guadalupe Peak is at the southern tip of a small ridge. It would be plainly visible to anyone flying towards it that if you fly about 3 miles south of the peak you can go at anything above about 6,000 easily.
 
I wish they carried it through Google Books/Amazon for download on a tablet. I've looked for it a few times over the years and it doesn't seem to be available except in paperback.
 
charheep said:
Is that the book with the dad asking about the water bag?
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Yes it is.

I too have a paperback copy around here somewhere. Great read.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the suggestion! Just ordered it off eBay. $4, free shipping. :D Yes, I'm a cheapskate.
 
Agreed - I recommend this book often. Sometimes new stuff just isn't as cool...
 
SoonerAviator said:
I wish they carried it through Google Books/Amazon for download on a tablet. I've looked for it a few times over the years and it doesn't seem to be available except in paperback.
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It's on Amazon for Kindle for $11.99
 
Dana said:
Sure you could. You'd just have to be a bit more careful about controlled airspace.
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Right.

And carry a passport for the car trip into Juarez. Or more likely, skip Juarez altogether.
 
AWACSEng said:
Haha! I use the Kindle app on my iPad.
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Lol, we just got my mother a new Samsung tablet for Christmas last year and had to get all of her Kindle books over to the new one. Kindle app worked great for that. She had been milking her Kindle tablet along for a long while!
 
Did you guys see the short film based on this book? I gave a few bucks to their go fund me cash grab and received a link. The film was neat but short. I think they were hoping to get the movie picked up by a studio so that they would make it a feature film.
 
I have the hard copy book but never got around to finishing it. Finally last year I bought the audiobook, which is narrated by Rinker himself. If you liked this book, you might like his newer book "The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey," where Rinker and Nick set out in a covered wagon to re-trace much of the old Oregon Trail. I got that one as an audiobook too. Loved it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P434GOO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
 
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