A Pilot S Story

This is my storythe story of a pilot who flew airplanes for some thirty-seven years: ten years in the United States Air Force, primarily in jet fighters, and then twenty-seven years flying commercial jet airliners. I was inspired to write this story after reading the autobiography, a few years ago, of Gen. Chuck Yeagerhe being the world-renowned test pilot, World War II fighter ace, and first man to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1. My story is the story of an average pilot, an average guy who survived several close calls, had many interesting experiences along the way, and often wondered, Am I still here because I was especially good or because I was especially lucky? I think the answer is definitely a combination of the two, just as Yeager says or implies in his book. With him, it may have been a larger contribution of skill, but as he said, The secret of my success is that I always managed to live to fly another day. I have to echo that comment. While flying around the country with American Airlines, during hours of complete boredom (as we say), we pilots often traded our war stories of our flying (and other) experiences. I often thought that I had many tales that were similar to some of Yeagers and that I should put my experiences down on paper, even if it would only be my family who might read it. So this, then, is my story, my life, primarily, as it revolved around my aviating experiences over some thirty-seven years, from the viewpoint of a pilot who has no particular claim to fame but who has survived to fly another day. One of the best descriptions of a flying career says: You start out with a big bag of luck and an empty bag of experience; you want to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck! I guess I have done that.

"Steve Scheibner went to bed September 10, 2001, with his bags packed and ready to go. He was scheduled to be the pilot on "American Airlines Flight 11 the next day. When he woke in the morning, however, a rare last-minute substitution meant 'someone else' would pilot that plane--the first plane that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11.... His powerful and moving testimony of God's providence will inspire you to examine your own life in light of eternity."--P. [4] of cover.

When the United States was attacked by Japan Irwin Lebow worked as a tool and die makers apprentice in a defense plant. Not willing to wait to be drafted, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps to fulfill his dream of becoming a pilot. In his diary, Lebow cronicals his 93 missions, as a P47 Thunderbolt pilot in the European Theater in World War II. This is a story written by a 22 year young man being exposed to life and death situations on a daily basis, but also living with the thrill and excitement of doing things that movies are made of. These are the memories of the highs of climbing out of the cockpit after returning from successful missions destroying enemy targets. And the lows of losing a friend in combat.

They were nicknamed Snow Eagle, Flying Knight, Bush Angel, Punch, Doc and Wop. They worked in open cockpits and flew through cold, snow and fog without the benefit of radios, maps or weather reports. They flew over the Barrens, frozen lakes, boreal forests and mountain ranges by dead reckoning and line of sight. They landed on makeshift runways, glaciers, muskeg, tundra and glassy lakes. Comrades of the wilderness, they were Canada's early bush pilots. L.D. Cross brings us the incredible stories of the brave and enterprising pilots who rolled back the boundaries of western and northern Canada, delivering mail, medicine, miners and all the supplies needed by frontier settlements. Flying such planes as Curtiss, Bellanca, de Havilland, Fairchild, Junkers, Norseman, Stinson and Vickers, they were the off-roaders of aviation, venturing where no others dared to go. Climb into the cockpit with these pioneering pilots for an exciting trip into Canadian aviation history.

"As a pilot for American Airlines, Steve was very close to the events of September 11th, 2001. Originally scheduled to be the First Officer on Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center, Steve knows first hand what it means to have someone die in his place, not once, but twice. His powerful and moving testimony of God's provision will inspire you to examine your own life in the light of eternity.

Howard DeMallie, a young American pilot, and his crew are forced to bail out of their B-17 airplane over Holland. He is helped by the Dutch underground and imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp.

The book is essentially an autobiographical narrative of the author`s experiences as a Fighter pilot and a Test pilot, spanning over his entire flying career of 50 long years, containing unique experiences of historical value. The book perforce contains technical aspects of various types of aircraft flown and tested by him; Trainers, Fighters, Bombers, Transport aircraft, Helicopters, Sailplanes, and Hang Gliders. An effort has been made to present the same in as simple a manner as possible so that even a lay reader can get a fair idea of what Fighter flying and Test flying entails. There are numerous accounts of life-threatening emergencies faced by the author as well as some uncommon dare-devilry indulged in. There is also a spattering of events other than flying, which would give the reader a flavor of the type of life and times the author has been through during his flying years.