Mavericks of the Sky: The First Daring Pilots of the U.S. Air Mail - Softcover

Rosenberg, Barry; Macaulay, Catherine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060529504 ISBN 13: 9780060529505

Publisher: William Morrow & Company, 2019

Synopsis

It was the pilots of the U.S. Air Mail service who made it possible for flight to evolve from an impractical and deadly fad to today's worldwide network of airlines. Nicknamed "The Suicide Club," this small but daring cadre of pilots took a fleet of flimsy World War I "Jenny" Biplanes and blazed a trail of sky routes across the country. In the midst of the Jazz Age, they were dashing, group-proud, brazen, and resentful of authority. They were also loyal, determined to prove the skeptics wrong. MAVERICKS OF THE SKY, by Barry Rosenburg and Catherine Macaulay, is a narrative non-fiction account of the crucial, first three years of the air mail service - beginning with the inaugural New York-to-Washington D.C. flight in 1918, through 1921 when aviator Jack Knight was the first to fly across the country at night and furthermore, through a blizzard. In those early years, one out of every four men lost their lives. With the constant threat of weather and mechanical failure and with little instrumentation available, aviators relied on their wits and instincts to keep them out of trouble. MAVERICKS OF THE SKY brings these sagas to life, and tells the story of the extraordinary lives and rivalries of those who single-handedly pulled off the great experiment.

About this title

About the Author:

Barry Rosenberg is a longtime journalist specializing in aviation, technology, and issues of national defense. He has written for respected industry publications such as Aviation Week & Space Technology for the past twenty years, and regularly writes reports on issues of peace and security for the Carnegie Corporation of New York and others.

From the Inside Flap:

MAVERICKS OF THE SKY brings to life the daredevil early days of aviation and tells the forgotten history of the band of aces who pioneered flight and proved that the airplane was an invention of enduring value.
Veteran aviation reporter Barry Rosenberg and long-time writer Catherine Macaulay have brilliantly combined the romance and danger of the halcyon days of flight with the dramatic story of these near-mythic men and women.
MAVERICKS OF THE SKY offers an absorbing history of the crucial, first three years of the U.S. Air Mail Service—beginning with the inaugural New York-to-Washington D.C. flight in 1918 through 1921 with Jack Knight’s desperate against-all-odd night flight on which the future of airmail hinged.
Day after day, they climbed into their flimsy wood and cloth-covered biplanes to move the mail through torrential rain and blinding snowstorms, relying on their wits and instincts to keep them out of trouble. They were constantly driven by Second Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger, a tough-talking former newspaperman who pushed the men and machines to the extreme.
One in four of the pilots died during these years. Yet Praeger relentlessly expanded the air mail service westward, and just three years after the first air mail flight, the entire country from New York to San Francisco was connected by air.

The pilots of the U.S. Air Mail were nicknamed "The Suicide Club," and were a brash collection of First World War aces who returned as heroes from Europe looking for a way to continue their obsession with flying. At a time before there were any established air routes and when planes were very much a developing technology, they pushed the limits of flight to the extreme. They were dashing, group-proud, brazen, and resentful of authority.
Their legacy, however, is undeniable: By establishing the first reliable application of powered flight in the face of wide public skepticism, "The Suicide Club" ushered in the era of modern aviation.

Rosenberg and Macaulay’s thrilling narrative draws on exhaustive research of new archival material to bring back to life the exploits of the most daring and colorful pilots—American pioneers who were true symbols of the Jazz Age and the American spirit. A unique tale of adventure, heroism, and suspense, MAVERICKS OF THE SKY is as irresistibly fascinating as its subject.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0060529504
• ISBN 13: 9780060529505
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368