Winds Aloft: A Pilot's Diary

May 6th, 1937

It is not without some degree of humility, I confess the following. At about the same moment I was beginning life's journey from a military hospital at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a great disaster was in the making. Thousands of miles away, the giant German dirigible Hindenburg was making its approach for a landing in Lakehurst New Jersey. There are several versions of what happened next

While descending toward the mooring station, for reasons that are still unclear today, the mighty zeppelin burst into flames and was completely consumed in 34 seconds. Thirty-seven people died in the disaster. The giant dirigible was full of 70 million cubic feet of hydrogen and as such was an explosion waiting to happen. What set it off is still not known for sure (some say a bolt of lightning).

One thing is for sure, though; I had nothing to do with it.

It never occured to me while my life was whizzing by that some of the events and activities of my life would make good stories. I suppose most people think the breakdown of the day to day activities of their individual lives would really not interest most people. When I started relating some of these stories to friends and relatives they expressed great interest and mentioned that I should put it all down on paper and write a book. So that is what I have done here.

This is not a novel, nor is it a diary in the pure sense of the word. Instead it is a chronological collection of what I consider to be interesting stories emanating from a flying career. All the stories are true and have an element of humour involved. All should appeal to the general public and especially to flying enthusiasts.

Flying out of Berlin, Germany up and down the three corridors through Communist East Germany and behind the Iron Curtain in the East Bloc countries was especially interesting and sometimes a little hair-raising.

Putting together all these stories was more fun than work, especially with the assistance of these wonderful computers. Getting the book out to the public was the big challenge.