[.ca] One Zero Charlie: Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation (ISBN 141657641X)

Great Book about Flying and Aerobatics:
Some may not like the emphasis of the book, but for what it does describe, it does very well. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of a better book in this area. The recent Joshua Cooper Ramo book "No Visible Horizon" was an extremely poor effort by comparision. I think the balance described between author's natural caution and great joy in flying is described very well. It presents a accurate picture of what the "grass roots" private pilot should be (and actually is in most of my experience) ... cautious and joyful as opposed to reckless and ego-driven. I read this book first in 1996, about a year after I got my pilot's certificate and during a time when I was really begining to experience "grass roots" aviation by getting a tailwheel endorsement in a Piper Cub. The content rang true then against my early experiences and spiked my interest in actually trying aerobatics. I talked to some local competitive akro pilots and was looking at taking some aerobatic training. In the years since I have done many more of the things the book explores (including buying a share in and flying the Pitts Special, which is very well described in the book). It all still rings true, even after I have seen, met, and talked to people in the book or those that know (or knew) them. Some of the "rowdy" behavior described at the aerobatic contest isn't seen during current IAC contests I've participated in and wouldn't be tolerated today. I'm told it was more relaxed 15 years ago. The risks are real, but, as Gonzales says, are at least partially managable by the average pilot. A few accidents do occur every year, but many are preventable, with good maintenance and pilot decision making. A aerobatic pilot that doesn't "push the envelope" and avoids flying low (i.e. "airshows") can reasonably expect as long a life as anybody else. And by the way, I've never rolled a Pitts on takeoff and don't plan to! But the pleasures and risks of flying inside the whole envelope are eloquently described here and is hard to equal elsewhere!