Zero Three Bravo; Solo Across America in a Small Plane
Chip Kidd (Jacket Design) New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. [10], 371, [1] pages. Illustrations. Endpaper map. Publisher's ephemera laid in. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Rear DJ flap not well folded. Mariana Eleanor Gosnell (died March 23, 2012, aged 79) was an artist, journalist, photographer, pilot and book author originally from Columbus, Ohio. Gosnell graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University and also spent time at the Sorbonne in Paris. She worked for Newsweek Magazine for 25 years, as medicine and science reporter and editor, additionally contributing to Smithsonian and National Wildlife. In July 2016, a New York Times journalist live-streamed the discovery of some slide photographs by the side of a New York trash can, and in course discovered them to be Gosnell's original photographs. Derived from a Kirkus review: A pleasurable ride with aviatrix Gosnell on her leisurely summer odyssey, flying in to out-of-the-way airfields and seeing the US from a fresh perspective. Taking a three- month leave of absence from her reporter's job at Newsweek, she set out in her small, single-engine Luscombe Silvaire to hop-skip-and- jump to the West Coast and back. Gosnell had fallen in love with flying during a summer vacation in Kenya. On the cross-country trip described here--stopping off at familiar and unfamiliar places, dropping in on friends, hiking and backpacking when the mood struck, exploring caves, spending the nights in her sleeping bag and as often as not under the wing of her beloved little plane--Gosnell saw America as few do: the ocean shores, the Mississippi, the Rockies, the Great Plains, and terrain both benign and terrifying. The characters she met were as interesting as the sights--among them, crop-dusters, tow-plane pilots, fire spotters, flight instructors, trading-post managers, cave specialists, and, of course, the FBOs (fixed-base operators). A notable stop on the way back was at Columbus, Ohio, for a homecoming visit. Gosnell is in love with flying, and we are ensnared by her enthusiasm. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Aviation, Luscombe Silvaire, Fixed Base Operators, Cropdusters, Tow-plane, Pilots, Fire Spotters, Flight Instructors, Trading Posts, Caving, Fishspotters, Airports
ISBN: 0697400257
[Book #75508]
Price: $35.00