One Zero Charlie: Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation

by Laurence Gonzales

Book Overview

Galt Airport in northern Illinois is known to the people who fly out of it as "One-Zero-Charlie" (for its FAA designation as Airport 10C). This evocative excursion into a little-known part of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671742787
• ISBN13: 9780671742782
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Great Book about Flying and Aerobatics

Some may not like the emphasis of the book, but for what it does describe, it does very well. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of a better book in this area. The recent Joshua Cooper Ramo book "No Visible Horizon" was an extremely poor effort by comparision. I think the balance described between author's natural caution and great joy in flying is described very well. It presents a accurate picture of what the "grass roots" private pilot should be (and actually is in most of my experience) ... cautious and joyful as opposed to reckless and ego-driven.I read this book first in 1996, about a year after I got my pilot's certificate and during a time when I was really begining to experience "grass roots" aviation by getting a tailwheel endorsement in a Piper Cub. The content rang true then against my early experiences and spiked my interest in actually trying aerobatics. I talked to some local competitive akro pilots and was looking at taking some aerobatic training. In the years since I have done many more of the things the book explores (including buying a share in and flying the Pitts Special, which is very well described in the book). It all still rings true, even after I have seen, met, and talked to people in the book or those that know (or knew) them. Some of the "rowdy" behavior described at the aerobatic contest isn't seen during current IAC contests I've participated in and wouldn't be tolerated today. I'm told it was more relaxed 15 years ago.The risks are real, but, as Gonzales says, are at least partially managable by the average pilot. A few accidents do occur every year, but many are preventable, with good maintenance and pilot decision making. A aerobatic pilot that doesn't "push the envelope" and avoids flying low (i.e. "airshows") can reasonably expect as long a life as anybody else. And by the way, I've never rolled a Pitts on takeoff and don't plan to! But the pleasures and risks of flying inside the whole envelope are eloquently described here and is hard to equal elsewhere!

Adventures in Aerobatics

"One Zero Charlie" doesn't have much of a plot, being more of a collection of vignettes from the recreational pilot lifestyle. I obtained this book from the public library, but I enjoyed it sufficiently that I intend to purchase a copy for my own library. If you are a weekend pilot, or if you have enjoyed similar books like "Zero Three Bravo", "Weekend Wings", "Flight of Passage", "A Gift of Wings", etc. etc., I think that you would probably enjoy "One Zero Charlie" as well. The book does discuss two or three fatal accidents, all of which occurred during aerobatic practice. The author makes it clear that aerobatics is an inherently risky - but deeply satisfying- hobby.

Captures the essence of aviation

I have been around general aviation my entire life yet I have struggled to communicate its ethereal grasp on my soul; One Zero Charlie does precisely that. Gonzales has immersed himself in the general avaition culture and identified the essence of flight in small aircraft. While others have commented that he appears obssesed with death, I claim that he celebrates life.If you have ever wondered why individuals go to great lengths to fly, read this.

100 years of great hanger flying

Gonzales tells the incredible stories of past and present pilots of Galt field. His stories go into such incredible depth there is no longing for missed details. His descriptions of flying (why he flies, specifically) rang truer with this pilot than any other words put on paper, with the possible exception of Gordon Baxter. A satisfying book I won't pass on...I keep reading it over and over again!

Good books are hard to find; this is one.

Airplanes and pilots are interesting, but in the hands of a capable author they are fascinating. I am not a pilot, and I don't think I want to be one, but this book sits you down squarely behind the controls and flies......