Trafford Publishing: My World of Aviation

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My World of Aviation

by Johnn Lovaas

184 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); illustrated; catalogue #03-1771; ISBN 1-4120-1393-3; US$19.00, C$23.00, EUR15.00, £11.00

As a young man just out of high school, I looked to the field of aviation, and as a result experienced many things that were fun, educational and downright frightening. Here isa sampling of those experiences--some true to life and some from this aviation enthusiast's imagination. Come with me now into the skies where once only birds were able to soar.

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About the Book About the Author Table of Contents and excerpts Catalogue Information

About the Book

As a young man just out of high school and in love with aviation, Johnn Lovaas began flying lessons and also worked at an airport. This collection of short stories is a blend of truth and fiction based on his experiences in the field of aviation.

"I think you'll enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them."

About the Author

Johnn Lovaas is semi-retired. His hobbies include building scale model aircraft and woodworking. When not busy with his hobbies, he's either working out in the gym or writing.

Table of Contents and Excerpts

Preface

Part I Flying Lessons

1 Six Bubbles
2 A Hot Surprise
3 At the Crossroads
4 It's All Uphill From Here
5 To Do or Not To Do
6 A Visit to the Farm
7 Hello Cousin!
8 Sidetracked

Part II The Flight Service

1 The Fixed Base Operator
2 Landing Zone
3 A Foamy End
4 A Real Blast
5 A Student Indeed
6 The Yellow Jeep
7 26000
8 Flight to Minneapolis
9 Fog Flight
10 Mr. Smith Goes to Mexico
11 World War II?
12 Airstrike
13 I'm A Little Bit Country
14 Nick's Lesson
15 I Dare You
16 Preface - Love of My Life
17 Bird of Prey

Preface

A young man just out of high school looks to the field of aviation for consideration both as a career and for just plain fun. Though my aviation career was very short lived, I experienced many things that were fun, educational, and down right frightening.

In the following chapters, I'll share some of my experiences with you during those times. I have, however, written this book a bit differently; a sort of diary or logbook. You will be reading several stories, some of which are quite true to life and others that are only in the imagination of an aviation enthusiast. I believe you'll find the stories as fun to read as they were for me to write.

Come with me now into the skies where once only birds were able to soar. Perhaps you'll be inspired to explore for yourselves the great wild blue yonder after sharing My World of Aviation!

Excerpts

I taxied the plane into position in the middle of the runway, gave it full throttle, and we were on our way. We built up speed to about eighty miles per hour or so. I pulled the yoke back slightly and we lifted off the runway. As we were gaining altitude, my instructor, without warning, pulled the yoke back and we shot what seemed like straight up! At the time he did that, we were above the runway maybe one hundred feet or so. He also banked the plane to the right.

Now all of this happened very quickly as things usually do with airplanes. I didn't see them at the time and didn't know what was going on until my instructor told me to look to the left and just below. Meanwhile, he and the tower were "having words." Helicopters (these were Bell model 47's which are the ones with the big bubble in the front) that had landed on the infield by the terminal, started taking off right in front of us, apparently without permission from the control tower. I can remember the air traffic controller yelling in the radio to us, "don't stall that airplane, don't stall, don't stall!"

* * * *

The threatened airliner was approaching the airport very quickly and much to our surprise, the hijackers had no intentions to land even when they were told of the low fuel situation. The hijacker in the cockpit area started threatening violence. A brief argument ensued between the pilot and the hijacker.

The next words were chilling. "If you land, we kill a hostage!"....The captain must now make a decision. Time is running out. Does he land the plane despite the threats to kill hostages one at a time or worse, blow up the plane in midair, or continue to fly knowing full well they'll soon run out of fuel and crash anyway.

* * * *

All of a sudden a pilot's worst nightmare occurred. We lost all power! I all but panicked! My stomach rose into my throat and my heart was beating almost out of control! I shouted, "What do I do?!" I glanced at Nick, did a double take and once again noticed he seemed very calm, almost enjoying the grave situation! I could not believe it! He began giving me instructions as to what to do. "Look for a place to land, maintain as much altitude as you can, radio the nearest airport and declare an emergency," and a whole list of other things. As luck would have it, if you could call it luck, there was an interstate highway below us so I selected it as our landing strip. We were, of course, getting lower and lower so I lined the Aztec up with the road below. There was some traffic on the highway but I had little choice but to invade their "turf".

Catalogue Information