This book is an episodic log of some of the more memorable of (the authors) nearly 10,000 hours aloft in peace and in war. It is also an attempt to define by example his belief in the phenomenon of luck-- that the pattern of anyones fate is only partly contrived by the individual.--The New Yorker. nErnest K. Ganns classic pilots memoir is an up-close and thrilling account of the treacherous early days of commercial aviation. Few writers have ever drawn readers so intimately into the shielded sanctum of the cockpit, and it is hear that Mr. Gann is truly the artist (The New York Times Book Review). nA splendid and many-faceted personal memoir that is not only one mans story but the story, in essence, of all men who fly (Chicago Tribune). In his inimitable style, Gann brings you right into the cockpit, recounting both the triumphs and terrors of pilots who flew when flying was anything but routine.n