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| ARMCHAIR AVIATOR
HEADWIND, by John Nance (Berkley Publishing: Paper, $7.99) A 737 pulls up to a jet way in Athens, Greece and all hell breaks loose. Captain Craig Dayton and ex-United States President John Harris are about to have their lives changed forever. Welcome to the fictional world of author John Nance, where an outstanding knowledge of aviation collides with some of the most boring, one dimensional characters in popular fiction. The essence of this yarn is that while president, Harris ordered an air strike on a suspected drug lab hidden in a remote part of the Peruvian jungle. Arguably, innocents were killed and Peru is seeking to get its hands on Harris by employing the same extradition treaty that Spain used to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. It's a great premise, but by page 20 you'll likely be in a coma. Too bad. Nance has the flying down pat, it's just the characters that give him grief. Maybe he should just revise the AIM. |
region. While the town itself is a bit shabby the furniture industry and the railroad long having abandoned it it sits near the shore of beautiful Chautauqua Lake, not far from Lake Erie amidst undulating hills and vineyards. It's a good 3-hour (C 172) flight from ISP, so it's a true day's event.
If you get hungry after 3 hours aloft and need sustenance before heading into town, the Sand Piper Restaurant is on the field. If you can wait, there are numerous dining options on the route to the museum. Should visions of Fred and Ethel, Little Ricky and Big Ricky, Gale Gordon and "baobaloo" dance in your brain, then this is your kind of flight. |
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| FROM THE HEARTLAND TO THE OUTERBANKS
When my friend Laura asked last December if I would be interested in an air race it took me all of two seconds to say "yes". Since I began flying seven years ago I've fallen in love with all things aviation. From first solo all the way to instrument rating, commercial certificate and aircraft ownership, I've never stopped looking for the next adventure aloft. The 27th Air Race Classic in which Laura and I will participate begins in Pratt, Kansas on June 21. For four days contestants dash over the Heartland, cross the Alleghenies, slide over Kitty Hawk and finish at Dare County Airport on North Carolina's Outer Banks. This is the first race for either of us and we'll be flying Laura's Saratoga. Usually about 45 aircraft enter with a crew of two. Instrument ratings are required for both pilot and copilot. Since many different aircraft race, a handicap is assigned based on the average speed of each plane. All flights must be made in daylight VFR conditions and |
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| THERE AND BACK IN ONE DAY
If you were socialized in the 1950's, or lived that decade vicariously through TV reruns, then you might want to take a jaunt on a fine spring day to Jamestown/Chautauqua Field (JHW). Of course Jamestown is the hometown of that red headed doyenne of American television, Lucille Ball. The I Love Lucy Show is one of the great popular culture icons of the 20th century and for those aviators who cannot get enough of Lucy's antics, then a trip to the I Love Lucy Museum in downtown, Jamestown is a must. Jamestown is located at the far, western edge of New York's Southern Tier |
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