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

Rosenberg, Barry; Macaulay, Catherine

ISBN 10: 0060529490 / ISBN 13: 9780060529499

Published by William Morrow, 2006

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Synopsis:

Recounts the exploits of America's first commercial aviators, the daring fliers of the U.S. Mail Service, who risked their lives in a fleet of flimsy World War I biplanes to transport the mail across America and who played a key role in the early history of commercial aviation. 30,000 first printing.

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.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Mavericks of the Sky: The First Daring ...
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 2006
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: very_good