Flight of the "Gin Fizz": Midlife at 4, 500 Feet
by Henry Kisor
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Good/Good
- ISBN 10
- 0465024254
- ISBN 13
- 9780465024254
- Seller
-
ELY, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Basic Books. Good/Good. 1997. First Edition, First Impression. Hard Cover. 8vo 0465024254 Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Original cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine. Some staining to spine and dust jacket. No ownership marks. Map end papers. Photographs on plates. 384 pages clean and tight. Henry Kisor didnt realize what he was getting himself into when a friend invited him aboard his small plane one afternoon, but as the engine revved and the craft took flight, he found himself exhilarated as never before. Fifty-three years old, Kisor had looked into a mirror and saw staring back a man who was short, fat, bald, bespectacled, and deaf. He needed to reclaim his zest for life, and he found the answer in learning how to fly.Kisors dream begins to take shape when he learns that radio communications are not required in most of Americas airspace, and that visual flight rules are the same for hearing and deaf pilots alike. With the eagerness of newfound youth, he throws himself into his lessons and plans a suitable maiden voyage: a reenactment of Cal Rodgerss 1911 journey from New York to Los Angeles, the first coast-to-coast flight. Along the way, Kisor learns that Rodgers himself suffered from severe hearing loss, which adds an unexpected personal connection to the enterprise.Soon after getting his license, Kisor falls in love with a thirty-six-year-old beauty: a classic Cessna two-seater that he buys and renames Ginn Fizz, in honor of Rodgerss Vin Fiz (which was itself named after a popular soft drink of the day). He then plans out his trip and invites the reader into the cockpit as he takes to the air, dodging storms and greasing landings on a journey across America that recalls the derring-do of the early days of aviation. Landing sixty-five times along a route that takes him from New York to Chicago to Texas to California, Kisor introduces us to the men and women who make up the brotherhood of aviationthose who staff the airports, repair the planes, teach student pilots, ferry skydivers (and sometimes jump themselves), and perform aerobatic stunts and who open a window onto a rich and charming side of American life and lore, but Flight of the Gin Fizz is an internal journey, too, as Kisor slowly shakes off the midlife blues that had led him to the Cessnas left seat in the first place. As he proceeds west toward his goal, Kisor learns how to push the envelope of his own capacities, reaching new levels of proficiency and self-reliance, and stretching the limits of his familiar landbound life. For pilots, passengers, and armchair travelers of all stripes, Kisor offers an unforgettable voyage of self discovery and high adventureand a new appreciation of lifes possibilities. .
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Details
- Bookseller
- CHARLES BOSSOM (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 142537
- Title
- Flight of the "Gin Fizz": Midlife at 4, 500 Feet
- Author
- Henry Kisor
- Format/Binding
- Hard Cover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good/Good
- Edition
- First Edition, First Impression
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0465024254
- ISBN 13
- 9780465024254
- Publisher
- Basic Books
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1997
Terms of Sale
CHARLES BOSSOM
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. Please contact me if you have any problem with your order by e-mail charles.bossom@googlemail.com
About the Seller
CHARLES BOSSOM
Biblio member since 2010
ELY, Cambridgeshire
About CHARLES BOSSOM
Charles Bossom has worked in the Book Trade since 1963, commencing at WH Smith Oxford and retiring in 1999 as Regional Manager Central England. The Charles Bossom bookselling business was started in early 2000. We offer a changing selection of old and out-of-print books in a wide range of subjects. We frequently add new items to our stock so visit us regularly.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...