Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22011 in Books
• Published on: 1986-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 390 pages

Synopsis
A biography detailing the experiences of the American novelist, including his time as an air pilot in World War II.

Customer Reviews

The most exciting and inspiring book I have ever read.
I have read and re-read "Fate is the Hunter" so many times that the pages are loose and falling out. You are not just reading the best aviation book of all time, you are in the cockpit behind the master himself, as he savors the illicit thrill of a zero-zero takeoff from a fog bound Presque Isle airport in a C-47 during the war, taking a load of steel girders to Goose Bay. Just after takeoff, the girders break loose and slide to the rear of the aircraft, which starts a climb so steep that the plane is shuddering in a stall. As Gann and his co-pilot are pushing the control column forward as hard as they can with their feet a crewmember is trying to move the girders back up the near vertical floor.

Gann's writing so inspired me that I wanted to become an airline pilot, but my flying ability was just slightly better than Bixby, his inept co-pilot that almost collided with the Taj Mahal, another fascinating story later on in the book. I became a dispatcher instead, an occupation I truly loved, which was also inspired by Gann's interaction with the dispatchers of his line.

I wrote Ernest Gann at his home in Friday Harbor, Washington and tried to convey just how much I enjoyed "Fate is the Hunter" and what an impact it made on my life. I received short note from him. It was very gracious and humble, and is one of my greatest treasures.

I also highly recommend "Hostage to Fortune", a chronology of Gann's incredible life from a rebellious young man that could never follow his father into business and be chained to an office, through a lifetime of adventure, to his retirement on Red Mill Farm, on an island in the Pacific northwest.

AN UNFORGETTABLE MASTERPIECE
About a hundred years ago I walked into a bookshop in a small English town and found a hardback copy of "Fate". It was gathering dust on a high shelf - something that had been ordered and never collected the lady bookseller said. That was at the beginning of my flying career. I tried, and nearly succeeded in tracing EKG's footsteps around the globe. True the equipment was a bit more modern and we had inertial nav over astro nav, even so it was all very memorable - especially when I got to make a pencilled notation on the page of that book indicating the date I'd been there. The career has ended now, and I more or less resemble that battered hardback copy that resided at the bottom of my flight bag for nearly 17,000 flight hours. So, thanks for a story of flight and flying men that will never be beaten, EKG. My privilege to have shared the same sky. Any co-pilot slots available at our equivalent of "Fiddlers Green", I'll be along shortly.

A must read for aviation enthusiasts
The book chronicles Gann's career as a "high timer," an airline pilot with more than 10,000 hours in his log book. If you are a fan of the propeller era of air transport, (DC-2/DC-3/DC-4) you will find his accounts of life on the flight deck fascinating. Additionally, private pilots may learn useful tips for flying in foul weather.