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The blog theme is “Your First Experience.” As a certified AvGeek in love with flying, there’s no more perfect “first” scene than a love affair set in the sky! To wit, here’s a passage from my just-published novel, “The Last Bush Pilots,” which is now a TOP 100 FINALIST in this year’s Amazon Worldwide Breakthrough Novel Contest.
The main character, young pilot DC Alva, experiences his first Alaska flight with the legendary bush pilot Jake “Crash” Whitakker, over the spectacular Juneau Icefield. For those newer blog readers who are unfamiliar with the novel, here’s Amazon’s synopsis, and my most recent trailer:
Two young pilots, Daniel “DC” Alva and Allen David Foley, take on the world’s most dangerous flying: the Alaska bush. But Mother Nature-and a sexy Native Alaskan-stand in their way.
Author, airline captain and blogger Eric Auxier brings his former Alaska bush flying to life in his second novel, “The Last Bush Pilots.” Exhilarating flying, tall tales and larger-than-life characters abound in a wild land that truly is America’s Last Frontier.
Southeast Alaska Seaplanes, Juneau. Retired airline Captain, Chief Pilot Dusty Tucker pilots a renegade band of flying misfits. Meet legendary bush pilot Jake “Crash” Whitakker, equally adept at landing planes and ladies-and “crashin’ ’em” as well; prankster pilot Ralph Olaphsen, who once set an extinct volcano ablaze on April Fool’s Day; and no-nonsense Check Airman Holly Innes, trying to cut a respectable niche in the notoriously macho bush pilot world-while escaping a dangerous past.
Amid Alaska’s volatile skies, DC and Allen face escalating challenges in and out of the cockpit. As the two “cheechackos,” or greenhorns, learn the ropes, they are also roped into Crash and Ralph’s hare-brained scheme, “Operation Dirty Harry.” Under the suspicious nose of Draconian FAA Inspector Frederick Bruner, the pilots hatch a plot to hijack and rescue a planeload of orphaned bear cubs. Moreover, mischievous Tlingit Indian Tonya Hunter, as wild and unpredictable as the land in which she lives, plays the two lovestruck cheechackos against each other.
But the true villain of the story is Mother Nature herself. Alaska’s notoriously fickle weather and rugged terrain take on a life of its own. Can the two cheechackos survive Her relentless onslaught and launch their fledgeling airline careers?
50% OF ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE LAST BUSH PILOTS ARE DONATED TO CHARITY! Excerpt from…
A brilliant sun shone from a partly cloudy sky, and a blanket of pure white snow sparkled in reply. The light danced in crystalline prisms across the Juneau Icefield, as if it were spun of glass. Island statues of rock, dappled in white, towered above the frigid blanket.
From DC’s vantage point, in the copilot’s seat of Jake Whitakker’s single engine, deHavilland Beaver floatplane, he felt he could see a thousand miles. Despite wearing his brand new Serengeti sunglasses, he had to squint at the shining panorama before him. Behind them, three other tourists gazed in awe. Cameras clicked and whirred.
Whitakker chuckled at the wide-eyed cheechacko. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Overwhelmed by the scenery, all DC could do was nod.
At the end of the icefield, Jake closed in on a pine-topped ridge. He aimed for a cut in the rock along the ridgeline. The granite spires towered ever higher.
DC noticed a slight gleam in Whitakker’s eye.
“Bonzai!” Jake exclaimed as they launched through the tiny niche.
The ground dropped away. A girl screamed in back. Suddenly, DC and the tourists aboard were faced with a raging waterfall. DC actually had to look up to see its crest. Even above the din of the engine, DC could swear he heard its thunder. A puff of moisture cooled his cheeks.
Whitakker banked away, out over the Taku River. Below, green islands of grass sailed by.
“Wait, I think I see something ahead,” Jake announced, throttling back.
DC glanced at his cohort, then followed the man’s gaze out the window. After a moment, DC spotted a tiny brown figure in the water. As the tour plane closed in, he realized with amazement that he was staring at an Alaskan moose.
Whitakker circled the beast to get a better look, careful to keep a respectful distance. Though it stood knee high in the river, DC could tell the animal was enormous.
Whitakker rolled out of the turn and headed for home. For ten reverent minutes the plane flew straight and level and silent, as DC and the other awestruck passengers contemplated the amazing world.
As Jake set up for a water landing back in Gastineau Channel, DC watched in quiet respect. Out the front window, he saw the gentle blue waves rise up to meet them. Suddenly, he felt the shoulder straps press his chest. Spray leapt up to the sides in a whoosh!, like the grand finale of a log ride. With a swan’s grace, the plane settled in the water.
Whitakker idled the engine, lowered the water rudders, and deftly sailed the flying boat up to the small wooden dock floating next to the cruise ship.
With lines dangling from the wingtip, dock hands pulled the Beaver in and lashed it fast.
While the ecstatic tourists climbed out, spouting praises, DC remained in his seat, speechless. For the first time in a long time, he felt alive. Somehow, this magnificent land had pumped him with the stuff of spirit. And DC knew he was in love again. In love with flying. In love with life.
In love with Alaska.
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I SAY AGAIN,
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The Last Bush Pilots recently made the FINALS in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest 2013—TOP 100 out of 2,000! To read excerpts and comment to Amazon Judges, click this link: http://goo.gl/NhGcN
100% OF ALL PROCEEDS FROM CODE NAME: DODGER, AND 50% FROM THE LAST BUSH PILOTS ARE DONATED TO CHARITY!!! ———————
Posting March 27 @ 12:00PHX: Cap’n Aux answers readers’ technical Questions —First of a Four Part Series!
Episode I: “Have you ever . . . “ Latest entry, by Mark L.: Have you ever …… had to do an emergency descent because of pressurization issues – what are the procedures for that?” Good Q, Mark! Look for the answer March 27th!
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Coming Soon: New Vlog!
Cap’n Aux’s Excellent Philippine Adventure!
——————————————— Also working on: “Around the World in 80 Jumpseats”
A Pilot’s Eye View of the World from the Cockpit Jumpseat!
