Come fly with me....

Since Alaska has more licensed pilots per capita than any other state in the country, I am sure that there will be some people who are interested in one of our newest books: 50 Aircraft That Changed the World by Ron Dick and Dan Patterson. This book is filled with beautiful color photos of the most famous names in aviation. Some of the featured planes are flashy - Messerschmits, Spitfires and the X-15 - while other planes are sturdy workhorses. The De Havilland Beaver is the first plane that comes to mind, of course. The LearJet, Boeing airliners and Cessnas are also here. The entries are in chronological order, and each plane gets a lovely history that includes design features, technical attributes, highlights of its use, and recollections of pilots who have flown them. This book is a loving tribute to aeronautics and the engineering of flight. Even someone as ignorant of aircraft as I am can enjoy reading about the evolution of flight and the way that planes have changed history through wars, globalization, feminism and politics. Pretty impressive stuff for a chunk of machinery.