Zero Three Bravo: Solo Across America in a Small Plane

This book was a good choice to read after recently finishing "Crazy in the Cockpit." I confess I skipped/skimmed through the more technical aviation-related sections, concentrating on the travel narrative aspect. Makes for good bedside reading.

The Luscombe isn't my favorite lightplane, but it is Gosnell's, and she writes about it with such affection that I'd like to fly one. The trip evidently takes place in the late 1970s, because Jimmy Carter is president. (She visits Plains GA and the largest peanut-butter factory in the world.) Gosnell is a journalist, so she goes out of her way to visit unlikely places and meet interesting people. (Among them is the crew of the man-powered Gossamer Condor, whose record-breaking flight she is on hand to document.) I feel sorry for the lad who quit reading on page 10. He missed a wonderful yarn, and one that deserves a place on the bookshelf of any lightplane pilot. -- Dan Ford

The author presents us with a lovely world of flying from place to place in her airplane. The anecdotes are well-limned, the sentiments carefully expressed, the philosophies true.The style is informative and recreational and always engaging.

Ms. Gosnell offers us a wonderful extended visit with the great variety and unique personalities that populate the small general aviation airports of America. As a pilot who usually flies at bigger, less personal airports; I'm reminded of my experiences at the smaller fields I've visited where love of flying is more important than profit and people are truly unique. While the flying descriptions are well done and accurate, this book is really about the journey and the people and events encountered along the way. The book is for everyone, not just pilots. I'm going to pull out my charts and re-visit some of those small fields I usually just fly over!

With my AOPA Airport guide with me when I read, I kept track of where she flew each step of the way. Being a female pilot myself, I understood her feelings along the way. I hated to finish the book and end the wonderful experience. A trip I hope to make someday.