A fast-paced, riveting and vividly told story of unknown and true aviation adventure in the spirit of the legendary Air America. An abundance of actual photos accompany the 328 pages of text. Throughout, the author entertains with gut busting laughs and anecdotes of some truly extraordinary aviating the likes of which will never be seen again. Summer 1984. A lone, desperate pilot arrives in the blistering heat of the south Texas border city of McAllen. Searching for a flying job, he finds old aircraft flying south in the dead of night, their cabins overloaded with electronic contraband. They were headed for clandestine airstrips deep into Mexico's interior. With pockets full of hope and not much else, the pilot's fragile lives hung literally on both engines running. Read about the incredible adventures, the hair raising escapes, the long prison terms and death that await them south of the border. Read about the inherent danger in flying the dark, sinister Sierras and landing at blacked out, improvised airstrips. Dealing with corrupt and ruthless Mexican authorities, pilots found their well-being hung by a tenuous thread. Everyone, north and south, had a price. For more than a few, that price was death. While not exactly a fountain of information, Chuck did manage to leave me with an uplifting reflection as I ambled away from his esteemed presence. I think he had sensed my apprehension. Offhandedly, he said that no one had been killed since early June. My pace slowed a bit as that uncertain benediction hit home like a June bug smackin' a Harley driver's eyeball. Whap! I took a quick look at my Seiko watch, a long-lived holdover from another asylum of anxiety called Vietnam. The day/date showed Jun/21. Maybe he meant last June? I thought. I turned to ask but changed my mind. With a somewhat dampened spirit, I returned to my metal abode for more contemplation. Keeping my options open grew more appealing for now.

In 1924, the first mail plane was flown in Alaska and the era of the bush pilot began. Ben Eielson, Noel Wien, Bob Reeve, Harold Gillam and Joe Crosson are not well known today but they along with many others successfully challenged the wilderness and created a legend that endures even in the twenty-first century. The bush pilot is as much a part of Alaskan lore as the northern lights, and shows no sign of fading away. Originally published in 1945, The Flying North returns in this stunning reissue which includes previously unpublished material from author Jean Potter. It is the only book written on Alaska's early days in the air that draws on personal interviews with the men who were there. The Flying North presents Alaska as it was during the daw

Includes material on phalaropes, snipes, woodcocks, sandpipers, godwits, willets, oyster catchers, tattlers, plovers, curlews, and others.