Danger and Poetry: One Glider Pilot's First Hundred Hours, from Flight School to Rescue Mission by Joe Karam


Danger and Poetry: One Glider Pilot's First Hundred Hours, from Flight School to Rescue Mission
Title : Danger and Poetry: One Glider Pilot's First Hundred Hours, from Flight School to Rescue Mission
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0997355301
ISBN-10 : 9780997355307
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 136
Publication : Published September 20, 2016

Joe Karam was born to transcend, but perhaps not to fly. When at twenty-seven his quest for freedom led him to set foot in a glider for the first time, he was overcome with fear and desire. Nothing seemed to have prepared him for such a formidable test of courage, nor did he know anything about Charlie, the taciturn flight instructor he had just entrusted with his life. And yet the sky kept calling... A didactic memoir and a passionate love letter to aviation, Danger and Poetry unites heart and mind to celebrate the pursuit of dreams and the power of teachers.

Particularly recommended for:
- Individuals curious to learn about the joys and challenges of gliding and soaring in a sailplane
- Prospective or existing aviators interested in the mental aspects of the pilot training journey
- Novice or student pilots eager to compare notes on flight training basics and early milestones
- Airplane pilots aspiring to upgrade to more affordable and more silent aerial experiences
- Young freedom lovers, who in many countries can legally fly solo in a glider at age 14
- Flight instructors (especially CFI-G) seeking relevant reading material for their students
- Fixed-base operators (FBO) looking to stock, display, and retail enticing products

Danger and Poetry: One Glider Pilot's First Hundred Hours, from Flight School to Rescue Mission Reviews

  • Alexis Du Pin

    If you feel like flying, actually flying for real, i.e. take over the sky, this is the book for you.
    A skydiver myself, I had never considered flying planes, let alone gliders. "Too technical", "too expensive", "not enough sensations compared to skydiving". I read Danger and poetry in a matter of hours - the duration of a glider flight - for what opened up my mind to the elegant world of flying gliders. The author, Joe Karam, seems to be a rare breed of a scientist morphed into a poet... or the other way around I'm not sure. All the technical questions a beginner like me might wonder about are progressively answered with acute teaching and recounting skills, while Karam's way with words embarks us on a trip that just makes us want to take up gliding. A trip whereby, as a skydiver, I could reconnect with my own courage against the danger of the skies. A trip whereby I could sense the absolute magic and uniqueness of gliding: the promise to fly, actually fly, for hours and hours with no fuel. Like a bird. At odds with the 45 seconds of skydiving free fall, yet with as much magic. Did I choose the wrong way to fly ? The comparison stops there, but I'm definitely trying out gliding soon.

  • Salvo

    Heartfelt and insightful. The enthusiasm for flying comes across so nicely. Joe's eloquence soars just like the gliders he writes about. This is a book about aviation, but it's really a book about joy. It's a joy to read. Recommended for anyone looking for inspiration with a touch of danger.