Eastbound: Our Flight - Our Mission

By Renny Shapiro

Book Overview

"All private flyers have their dreams. Ours was to circle the world under our own power and navigation . We'd thought about it, talked about it, knew we could do it and one day would. It was only a matter of under what circumstances and when. What we never anticipated, not in our wildest imaginations, was that such a flight would be born for us out of Glasnost, Perestroika and the breakup of the Soviet Union.or that it was destined to become a life experience for us as Jews. But that's what happened. " *** So begins the true-life story of the world flight, travels and adventures of two American couples, who upon becoming amongst the few private transglobal flyers from the west permitted to cross the previously closed airspace of Ukraine and Siberia following the dissolution of the USSR, seize the opportunity to use their wings to connect with post Soviet-era Jewish revitalization and renewal. Written by Renny Shapiro, a member of the crew of Cessna N77ML, Eastbound carries us along and onboard with the two couples from their planning and initial take-off to final landing. We become part of the exhilaration, excitement (and even tedium) of world flying as we join them on their 19,000 nautical mile, 23 leg, 63 day flight across an ocean., continents and seas. We travel with them as they visit 13 countries and places of history, pre-history, and everything in between. And at last, we are with them when after nine thousand miles of flight and six weeks from home they arrive in the Former Soviet Union, where everywhere they touch down they are welcomed with joyous cries of "Shalom" In the end, Eastbound gives us a moving, warm and insightful look at what it is like to mount and carry out the kind of flight called "one of the last adventures in our increasingly predictable world" .and one, which for the two couples leads them from standing watch for Jews in almost forgotten places to connecting with many of these very people: the Jewish people of the Former Soviet Union, whose struggle is not to just survive, but to thrive against all odds.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1420852884
• ISBN13: 9781420852882
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Authorhouse
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Wow-You Certainly Need Guts To Attempt This Trip!

Have you ever dreamed of flying yourself around the world in a small Cessna aircraft ? No need for courage, you can experience this incredible voyage traveling vicariously through the pages of Eastbound, Our Flight/Our Mission authored by Renny Shapiro. All aboard with the crew, Renny and Bernie Shapiro and Evy and Martin Lutin! After much preparations and anticipation, the two couples, who were in their sixties, began their journey eastbound from Van Nuys, California. They eventually returned to their home base in 65 hours and five minutes of flying time, sixty-three days, and 18, 814.2 nautical miles later. Dividing their adventures into four parts, Shapiro describes their extensive preparations, their journey from Van Nuys, California to Istanbul and then onto Russia and ultimately returning to California. The final chapter, Afterward, presents Shapiro's afterthoughts. With trepidation, we share the author's humor and excitement such as their episode in Scotland where "every place is pronounced "Hle Gurgle Gurgle in Kitchee by Taunt." Peppered throughout the book are historical facts, sometimes entertaining while other times quite tragic, such as their visits to the concentration camps where their guide presented them with a copy of Elie Wiesel's poem: "Never shall I forget that night The first night in camp, Which has turned my life into one long night... Never shall I forget these things, Even if I am condemned to live As long as God himself, Never." The chapter decscribing Bodrum, a seaside resort, lifts the mood somewhat as Shapiro narrates their delightful experiences cruising the Cleopatra Coast and where they enjoyed the succulent meals prepared by their chef Sada. They even had the opportunity to be treated to an Anniversary party complete with a belly dancer! It is in Istanbul they meet up with Ali Gutelkin and his driver Hamish and they visit the luxurious Blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia. They also had the opportunity to admire the 80 karat diamond and the Topkapi dagger, and visited a real Harem. As for the history of the Jews in Turkey, Shapiro reminds us that in 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Turkish Sultan Bayazid II welcomed them saying: "Ferdinand has made his country poor and enriched ours!" Unfortunately, today, The Synagogue of Neva Shalom is heavily guarded as the result of a bombing committed by Arab terrorists in 1986, that resulted in the death of the local rabbi, the cantor and twenty-two Jewish worshipers. When asked what is the present relationship between Turkey and Israel, the reply was that they both had differences but that as we are both democracies, we maintain a relationship. Next on the agenda was their trip to Russia. Despite the fact that the Shapiro/Lutin crew previously traveled here at the beginning of 1993, the year of Jewish revival in the Soviet Union, their spirits this time were somewhat shattered when they visited Babi Yar, the site of the slaughter of thirty thousand