A Pilot's Progress

This book is a closely observed and lively memoir of aviation on the airfields of the American South in World War II. Along the way, the author provides us with one of the most perceptive and detailed first person accounts of Air Force pilot training in the early 1940s that we are ever likely to get. He trained in the PT-19, the BT-13 and the B-25, and flew the B-26, the justly infamous "Baltimore Whore," and the wonderful A-26 Invader. The author shapes his account of adventures, mishaps, and near disasters into a loving appreciation of how the skill of piloting is acquired, understood, and maintained. He also offers a sharp-eyed commentary on the social and cultural worlds he encountered on and off the airfields he flew from. This is a unique book that will be of interest to the aviation buff and to anyone interested in the American culture of the 1940s.