Mentioned in prior entries before is a wonderful aviation read, Flight of Passage, by Rinker Buck. It chronicles the 1966 flight of two young boys piloting a PA-11 Cub, N4971H, from New Jersey to California and back.
The book was written by one of the two participants, Rinker Buck, who is currently a staff writer for the Hartford Courant. A few years ago he won an award from AOPA for his aviation writing, in particular a series of articles dealing with the JFK crash. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.)
Rinker wasn't a licensed pilot at the time, as he was too young. So most of the actual flying was done by his older brother, Kernahan. To this day, Kern Buck is an active CFI.
A random internet search today turned up this video -- obviously from a home movie camera -- of Kern Buck's first solo in 1964. According to the book, Kern actually soloed four different airplanes that day. Quite a feat for any budding aviator. If you enjoy the book as much as I do (the abridged CD, read by Rinker himself, is even more fantastic), then perhaps you'll enjoy this video as well!
After the flight was over, Kern and Rinker were guests on To Tell The Truth. See for yourself:
Take a peek at the book through Google Books. Listen to Rinker share some more about his trip and general aviation at Episode #25 of The Pilotcast (February 2006).
Take a peek at the book through Google Books. Listen to Rinker share some more about his trip and general aviation at Episode #25 of The Pilotcast (February 2006).
15 comments:
I finally got around to reading Flight of Passage a few months ago. I thought I was the last pilot around to read it. Such a great read!
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I agree, Flight of Passage was a very good read.
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That video of Kern is really cool. I love "Flight of Passage" and when I was first learning to fly in 1999, I happened to meet Kern Buck in a Jiffy-Lube in Milford, MA. I ended up flying about 6 lessons with him before I had to put flying on hold for a while (divorce, new relationship, new house, etc.). I resumed later in Worcester but not with Kern. The full story is here:
http://flightschoolretro.blogspot.com/1999/05/my-flight-of-passage-lesson-7.html
Those videos of Kern are great. Thanks for sharing!
Nice stuff! Thanks for sharing this post recently. I'm looking forward to reading more.
I read 'Flight of Passage' several months back and loved it. It helped rekindle that 'fire in the belly' I have always had toward getting my license.
Hello from WBKS (Sandakan, Borneo, East Malaysia)....hmm... good post and good to know glimpse of pilot's life.... we're air traffic controllers from DCA Sandakan, Borneo, and check out our latest post as well... see ya!! dcasandakan.blogspot.com/
I read it when I was much younger. Beautiful story... It really capture the joys of flying. Sigh... My wings are now clipped because of health and flying will now be a memory for me... Nevertheless, nice blog you have here. :)
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