I'll Fly Away

by Race, John T. Jack

• ISBN13: 9781589661134
• ISBN10: 1589661133
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-15
• Publisher: Univ of Scranton Pr

Summary

From a 37-horsepower Aeronca C-3 to the mammoth Boeing 747 jet-liner, John T. "Jack" Race has lived a fascinating 60-year odyssey in the air. He was the pilot who flew General Jodl to the surrender of the Third Reich, then went on to log 60 years aloft as a flight instructor, crop duster, bush pilot, instructor for Afganistan's Ariana Airline, consultant to Jordan's Alia Airline, around-the-world charter pilot, and Pan Am jet captain. He even captained a cargo flight with his hero, Charles A. Lindbergh, on the jump seat. Then, at age 68, he daringly recreated Lindbergh's 1927 48-state tour in an open-cockpit biplane. Chief pilot for Orbis's flying eye hospital at age 70, he was one of the very few, if any, septuagenarian captains flying four-engine jet airline aircraft in the U.S. At the same time, he was also an American Baptist pastor serving as interim pastor in various American Baptist Churches. Book jacket.

Author Biography

William Hallstead is the author of twenty-one books, including six suspense novels under the pen name William Beechcroft. He is also a flight instructor and a glider pilot, logging 1,100 flying hours. Jack Race is a retired commercial airline pilot, World War Two veteran, and lay Baptist minister.  He has logged a total of 26,306 flying hours.

Table of Contents

1. The Germans saluted crisply	1	(4)
2. "Speen!"	5	(6)
3. Nothing is quite so silent as a dead engine	11	(6)
4. Hired on the spot by the AAF	17	(6)
5. Fierce acceleration glued me to the seatback	23	(6)
6. A real handful of no-nonsense airplane	29	(6)
7. Bluenose B	35	(8)
8. Impressed by the trip but not by the captain	43	(6)
9. "Release! Release!"	49	(8)
10. Wear your Goggles! Don't look back!	57	(10)
11. The Stearman slowed, then in a shower of sparks, it lunged forward	67	(6)
12. From AOA's dark blue to Pan Am's black	73	(8)
13. Brass bands and red carpets	81	(8)
14. "What are you doing in that thing, Jack?"	89	(10)
15. Seconds after lift-off, number three engine died	99	(10)
16. A sky full of aggressive fighter planes	109	(4)
17. "Where did that come from?"	113	(10)
18. "You'll have a special passenger"	123	(10)
19. Quarantine or leave	133	(8)
20. A colossal swindle afoot?	141	(10)
21. Staring at me from my rice pile was an eye	151	(6)
22. A visit to the Twilight Zone	157	(6)
23. The worst news any parent could ever hear	163	(6)
24. Flowers, bowls of fruit and champagne	169	(6)
25. Three miles west of Wurtsboro the engine stuttered	175	(10)
26. Aloft with ORBIS	185	(12)
27. "Help him, Lord, help him."	197	(8)
28. "Barnstormer's Mutual"	205	(8)
29. The year to live a dream	213	(10)
30. "He's not quite as tall, but he looks like Charles A. Lindbergh!"	223	(6)
31. Weather forecast: Rain	229	(8)
32. Across the U.S. by map and compass	237	(14)
33. "You can't park here!"	251	(14)
34. A risky case of "get homeitis"	265	(12)
35. Closing the circle	277	(4)
Flight Credentials	281