The Cockpit A Flight of Escape and Discovery

In 1992, ignoring the advice of every aviation expert who said it couldn't be done, a university professor decided to fly his small Cessna alone from California to South Africa. Plagued with horrendous weather, mechanical glitches, and uncooperative governments, nothing went right from the beginning. Yet, despite ice- and sandstorms, an earthquake, and the threat of civil war, he made it safely to his distant destination. His journey became a personal metaphor for the search for meaning in life and the crazy, breathtaking things that one man would do to find it.

Paul M. Gahlinger is adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Utah and has trained as a bush pilot. He is a consultant for NASA and is the author of Northern Manitoba from Forest to Tundra and Illegal Drugs. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.