Ralph Lewis has produced a fascinating account of the experiences of a radio operator/navigator during what may be described as the formative years of those professions. The accounts of his wartime years with United Air Lines and of the many strange episodes with the legendary Transocean Air Lines after the war could be, without exaggeration, described as adventurous.
In addition to the sharply-written text, the book is illustrated exclusively with more than a hundred of Ralph's superb photographs that include rare shots of the Pacific islands and atolls, the famous Transocean gold bullion airlift, the monkey flights, the royal chairlift in Saudi Arabia, and many others.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Donald S. Lopez
Author's Preface
Acknowledgements
Part I: I Never Thought of Flying
In the Beginning
Swan Song for the Eaglerock
Radio KFBI and Wedding Bells
Part II: Pacific War Years with United
A Chance to Fly - and be Paid for It
The Douglas DC-3: A Remarkable Flying Machine
Armed to the Teeth in C-87s
A Close Encounter of the Worst Kind
All in a Day's Work
The Truth Was Never Told
Adventures in Paradise
The End of United's Military Involvement
Part III: Transocean Across the Pacific
Birth of Transocean
Stark Terror at Hong Kong
Sojourn on Wake Island
Last Days of the Chinese Republic
Part IV: Transocean Does It All
Let's Talk Turkey
The Miracle of G.C.A.
Anything, Anywhere, Any Time
The Blind Fireman
Command Performance for an Arabian Monarch
The Jordanian Connection
Back to the Middle East
Part V Special Memories
Typhoons and Hail Marys
Monkey Business
Epitaph to a Great Airline
Tribute to Orvis Nelson
The Rest of the Story
Glossary of Terms
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