Flight Of The Gin Fizz: Midlife At 4,500 Feet
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.66 (790 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0465024254 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-09-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"A Different Twist on Middle Age Angst" according to James Carragher. Faced with late middle age and a life that has not quite provided all that youth expected, any number of males have taken to the open road and written about it -- most often, to my way of thinking, in a fairly whiny manner. This is a different twist on that theme; Kisor, a critic for a Chicago newspaper, doesn't take to the open road, he takes to the open sky in a small Cessna. And not just any open sky; it is the open sky which the nearly forgotten Cal Rodgers followed in the first solo flight across the United States. Coincidentally, Kisor and Rodgers share the handicap of being deaf. This all . Flying low and slow gives the best views I enjoyed this book so much, I took my time reading it. As the author crossed the country slowly in a Cessna 152, he follows the path of Cal Rodgers (another deaf pilot) - and I followed the author slowly, limiting myself to a few chapters at a time, savoring them. While the author shared his observations about the places he went and the people he met, he also shared his his views as a deaf pilot and a deaf member of our society. It is this perspective that gives the greatest insights. He keeps running into people who "can't do something" because they are different. Women pilots, black pilots, pi. "An excellent book for anyone thinking about learning to fly." according to bobmrg@ibm.net. Although Henry Kisor writes about his transcontinental trip in a small trainer as a non-hearing pilot, there is a subtext. Anyone of any age who wonders what the world of general aviation is all about and harbors the desire to join its ranks should read this book. Sure, Henry's deafness makes his flight special, but it is his description of grass-roots aviation that makes this book a keeper. You won't recognize John Nance, Dale Brown, or Tom Clancy in its pages--not even Richard Bach--just a middle-aged guy in love with flying.
For pilots, passengers, and armchair travelers of all stripes, Kisor offers an unforgettable voyage of self discovery and high adventure—and a new appreciation of life’s possibilities.. As he proceeds west toward his goal, Kisor learns how to push the envelope of his own capacities, reaching new levels of proficiency and self-reliance, and stretching the limits of his familiar landbound life. Landing sixty-five times along a route that takes him from New York to Chicago to Texas to California, Kisor introduces us to the men and women who make up the ”brotherhood of aviation”—those who staff the airports, repair the planes, teach student pilots, ferry skydivers (and sometimes jump themselves), and perform aerobatic stunts —and who open a window onto a rich and charming side of American life and lore, but Flight of the Gin Fizz is an internal journey, too, as Kisor slowly shakes off the midlife blues that had led him to the Cessna’s left seat in the first place. Henry Kisor didn’t realize what he was getting himself into when a friend invited him aboard his small plane one afternoon, but as the engine revved and the craft took flight, he found himself exhilarated as never before. Fifty-three years old, Kisor had looked into a mirror and saw staring back ”a man who was short, fat, bald, bespec
Recommended for popular aviation collections.?Mary Ann Parker, California State Dept. The memoir includes lots of details about buying, maintaining, and flying a private airplane and an appreciation for trying something new in midlife. But he wanted an additional challenge, and when he read about the cross-country flight of C.P. He intersperses his tale with accounts of Rodgers's historic flight, giving a feeling for how aviation has remained the same and how it has changed throughout the years. of Water Resources Law Lib., SacramentoCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. . From Library Journal The author, a book editor for the Chicago Sun-Times, decided