WALDO: PIONEER AVIATOR. A PERSONAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN AVIATION, 1910-1944

This is the true story of Waldo Waterman, pioneer aviator, aircraft manufacturer, engineer, barnstormer, inventor and test pilot. Those that were his idols and contemporaries -- Glenn Curtiss, the Wright brothers, Bill Stout, Lincoln Beachey, Billy Mitchell, Carl Spaatz, Tony Fokker, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh -- are gone now, but they and the others that helped break the bonds of man to earth will never leave us, especially when we relive their successes and failures through the memory of Waldo. When Waldo first flew his hang glider in 1909, the euphoria of man's conquest of the air was but a year old. The Wrights did fly in 1903, but the world didn't comprehend it until 1908. It was Glenn Curtiss who first captivated America when he flew before awed spectators on the Fourth of July, 1908; and it was Curtiss who won the coveted Gordon Bennett Trophy by being the fastest at the world's first air meet at Reims in 1909. In 1910, he was the hero at the first American air meet and the "first to fly on the Coast"; this event also marked the beginning of his friendship with Waldo. Waldo went on to become an aviation legend. In his eighty-two years he participated in virtually everything in that fabulous era that brought us, from aeroplanes of bamboo, wire and muslin, to the Space Age. He was no casual spectator, but was constantly working at "improving the breed." He was a pilot's pilot, and a strong voice for air safety. Decrying the harem-scarem flying of the Twenties, he was convinced that aviation would never come of age until it was a viable force for the good of man. Briefly a barnstormer, Waldo was not a "flying fool"; there were better and bolder pilots, but few who survived him. Waldo's life is a story for all who have flown -- from the aviation buff to the passenger sitting in quietude and comfort, possibly in awe of it all, racing through the skies at nearly the speed of sound -- the same skies that Leonardo da Vinci once dreamed about

WALDO: Pioneer Aviator - the true-to-life story of Waldo Dean Waterman

A few comments: The EAA, the world's largest private flying organization: "Waldo...did it all...Highly recommended..." TIME's Hugh Sidey: "What a splendid book it is..." Bill Immenschuh, president, San Diego Aerospace Museum: "I am im-pressed!...WALDO is something else. I started to flip through it and then became so en-grossed...that I am reading every word as not to miss any of the fascinating stories..." and President George Bush: "...I look forward to some exciting reading..."

No other story captures the flavor, excitement, glory and heartbreak of American aviation like this autobiography of the real "Waldo" (George Roy Hill, who wrote, pro-duced and directed "The Great Waldo Pepper," knew Waldo).

From his first tremulous flight in 1909 at 15 to his last solo at 77, Waldo's hands-on flying career tells what happened in American aviation during those 63 years as it was lived by no one else. Here's a story - encompassing virtually the entire history of flight in America - in narrative form, 502 pages with over 300 photographs and illustrations, based not only on Waldo's life as told in 40 hours of audio tapes, but researched in countless contemporary accounts and a bibliography of over 150 books.

Waldo was a pioneering aviator, manufacturer, designer, barnstormer, inventor, test pilot, teacher, and friend of most of that era: Glenn Curtiss, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Bill Stout, Lincoln Beachey, Billy Mitchell, Louise Thaden, Carl Spaatz, Frank Clarke, Howard Hughes, Gene Vidal, Jimmy Doolittle, Roscoe Turner, Frank Hawks, Claude Ryan, Cecil B. deMille...oh, there were so many!

You will read of his founding an airline...of his life as an early TWA pilot; of Hollywood flying with Clara Bow and Alice Faye, and of the epic "Hell's Angels" film-ing; of founding Van Nuys and Ontario airports; of his winning at the National Air Races; of setting a world altitude record; of being an "Entrant" at America's first Air Meet; of teaching Jimmy Doolittle the Theory of Flight; of his involvement in the wipe-out of one-third of the US Navy's airforce; of his perfection of the only successful flying automobile...and of his life-long participation in The Early Birds, the premier flying organization...and so much more! Note: The rear cover shows Waldo and Amelia Earhart about a year before her disappearance