Cowboys of the Sky: The Story of Alaska's Bush Pilots
Grade 6 Up?A delightful nonfiction romp. Nowhere else will you find Alaskan aeronautical anecdotes related with such humor for an adolescent audience. From Harold "Thrill 'Em, Chill 'Em, Spill 'Em, But No Kill 'Em" Gillam to Archie Ferguson, "The Craziest Pilot in the World," the author describes in colorful, humorous detail the daredevil lives of the early pilots who braved the elements and distance to service remote villages in the vast Alaskan "bush." Going by decades from the 1920s to the present, the history of the heyday of Alaskan aviation comes alive. The exploits of the daring "Sky Cowboys" glorify a vanishing breed, now considerably tamed by FAA regulations; however, Levi does not glorify the pilots to the point of deification. He notes the old Alaskan adage, "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." Numerous historical black-and-white photographs illustrate the text. One discernible error?a photo caption states that Wiley Post and Will Rogers were in Juneau in 1938, when the text states that they died in a crash in 1935.?Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AKCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.