The Last Airmen (First Printing) ; Exploring My Father's World

Drawing on stories from his airline pilot father and others, Rawlings explores the history, culture, and code of piloting. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

An airline pilot's son who thought that he had put his boyhood fascination with flight behind him when he became an adolescent, Rawlings discovered at age 40 that he was still intrigued by flying. This book, his first, which should interest anyone who has ever flown, even as a passenger, is a result of the author's attempt to familiarize himself with the world of pilots. There are stories of the early days of flight, of people flying "by the seat of their pants," of the advances made during World War II, of the advent of jet planes and of the revolution brought about by computers, which all but ended an airman's control of his own craft. Rawlings talked with retired pilots, with young men now flying and, above all, with his father, getting to know a side of the man he had never known before.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rawlings, a magazine and book editor, has written an overview of flying history from the barnstormers and mail pilots of the 1930s to the electronically controlled jumbo jets of today. He talked to his father, a former TWA pilot, and several other pilots about their recollections of flying. Many of their experiences center around World War II and the 1950s and 1960s, when jets were introduced into the airlines. The stories are enlightening and sometimes entertaining and relate to the planes, weather conditions, flight crews, and the business of the airlines. Rawlings sprinkles into these accounts tidbits about his own relationship with his father, adding a personal dimension to the narrative. Interesting reading for aviation-minded people.
- William A. McIntyre, New Hampshire Vocational-Technical Coll. Lib., Nashua
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.