Zero 3 Bravo: Solo Across America in a Small Plane

by Mariana Gosnell

Overview

In Zero Three Bravo Mariana Gosnell takes the reader along on her extraordinary voyage across the U.S. in her single-engine Luscombe Silvaire.

Gosnell's true story of life as a woman pilot flying cross-country solo—including photos taken on her amazing trip—will make the confirmed urban dweller yearn for open spaces and the adventurous life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780671892081
Publisher:	Touchstone
Publication date:	07/21/1994
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Mariana Eleanor Gosnell is an artist, journalist, photographer, pilot and book author originally from Columbus, Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

Crossing the country in her much-loved small plane (a Luscombe N803B, identified as Zero Three Bravo on radio transmissions), Gosnell, a former medical and science reporter for Newsweek, offers a bird's-eye view of our nation's land-, sea- and skyscapes. A flight-infatuated adventurer on a summer holiday, she wings happily aloft in the airlanes reserved for noncommercial craft, dipping low enough to distinguish country fields and city streets, or soaring upward to exult in the firmament. Here and there, she touches down for a dinner date, a shopping tour with her mother, or simply to reconnoiter a town, have a cup of coffee and gas up. All the while, Gosnell enthuses about her plane and the mechanics of flying, bringing to life the network of kindred spirits who use and staff the small airports that service the private flying community. With contagious delight, she opens up a unique world for her readers. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC alternate. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Former Newsweek reporter Gosnell recounts her trip across the United States alone in her private plane. She describes experiences at many small airports as she flies from New York down across the southern United States to California, then north and back across the Midwest. She encounters plenty of interesting characters, hears many stories, and weaves these together with touches of aviation history to make a contemplative personal narrative. Gosnell's journalistic style lets us appreciate the variety of people and places she visits, from New York City to Plains, Georgia. Recommended for all libraries with strong aviation and travel collections.-- Gwen Gregory, U.S. Courts Lib., Phoenix, Ariz.

Library Journal

YA-Ever wonder how those planes that carry messages streaming behind them get off the ground? Ever think about what goes on at those small airports you occasionally pass in your car? Here is an intriguing look into the mysterious world of general aviation (a.k.a. small planes), presented by a former Newsweek writer. Gosnell makes readers feel as though they're there with her as she explores the country in (and out of) her 1950 Luscombe Silvaire two-seater. She draws readers into the separate, mostly masculine world of small airports and introduces them to the mostly likable eccentrics who hang out there. The book is an enjoyable mix of flying lore, scenery descriptions, adventures, impressions of people, weather, conversations, worries, and reminiscences-all so smoothly done that it's never boring. Well worth booktalking.-Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA

School Library Journal