Come along on an incredible journey where we had no idea where the adventures were. We just let the airplane take us there. The exciting part is, you never know what's next. As a ferry pilot, you don't get to choose what airplanes to fly, the destination, or the weather. And you don't get to choose the life-threatening complications. Sanford has been lucky enough to spend a great deal of his flying career in what we call bush country. The wilderness in the northern region of the United States and Canada is beautiful but non-forgiving. Classroom training is useful, but there is no better reward in life than the real experience of successfully flying over the wilderness to destinations most people will never see or go. There are no airport terminals, airline schedules, or rental car services at the most pristine places in the world! 9-1-1 simply doesn't exist! Special planning becomes routine, life-saving survival gear is standard equipment. Diverting to a local airport while in route to avoid some rough weather, or stop to stretch your legs and have a soda pop, is not an option. It is definitely not for everyone. But if you are willing and capable to step outside, where there are no warning labels that tell you how to wash your hands, in this little so-called safe world, where somebody else is taking you by the hand and leading you through life, the rewards are endless! Airplanes have opened up the world to us, and we have seen and visited so many places that we may never have known about. The journey is never the same. The risks seem high, but are worth the rewards. We had no one to share these incredible experiences with, until now.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A FERRY PILOT is made up of nineteen true short stories about ferrying airplanes from one part of the world to another. Each flight has something about it that wasn't planned. Unexpected heart stopping engine failures, weather that went from CAVU (Clear and Visibility Unlimited) to Oh MY God!!, interception by armed foreign fighters, arrest by third world police or anything that old Mister Murphy can throw your face. I had several pilot friends read the manuscript, here are some of their comments. "Ferry pilots are nuts, everybody knows that." Captain Cal Harman, 20 years with Continental. "These stories are unbelievable, I thought flying combat missions was dangerous." Captain Curt Briggs, shot down in Vietnam while flying an F-4 Phantom, rescued after spending more than 24 hours hiding from the North Vietnamese. "When we were cell mates in Hanoi I suspected that Spike was a little crazy, suspicions confirmed." Lieutenant Commander Larry Friese, USN Retired. POW in Vietnam 51/2 years.

Kerry McCauley has the job most pilots only dream of; delivering small used aircraft to locations around the world. In his 30 years an international ferry pilot, Kerry has delivered almost every kind of airplane you can name to almost every location you can think of. In his long career Kerry battled fuel system malfunctions over the Atlantic, a total electrical failure at night over the Sahara, getting lost over Africa and being struck by lightning off the coast of Portugal. Kerry's almost insatiable, reckless quest for danger and adventure also led to putting international smuggler and bank robber on his resume. Kerry found the answer to the question "what could possibly go wrong?" time and time again. But his skill, ingenuity and luck were what allowed him to survive the countless mishaps, catastrophes and close calls including a nearly fatal plane crash. While "Ferry Pilot" is an account of one man's crazy thirst for thrills and adventure, his coming to grips with the dangerous nature of his career and just how much he wants to test the depth of his luck bag. It's also a portrait of the perseverance and bravery of a devoted family man who lost many close friends and his first wife to the dangerous skies.

Air Vagabonds is the story of the amazing, true (mis)adventures of a band of rogues piloting aircraft alone into exotic and deadly destinations. In the late 1970s and through the 1980s the demand for light aircraft eclipsed anything seen before or since. This created the need for a small air force of pilots—ferry pilots—willing to fly thousands of planes to clients in every corner of the globe. Long-range solo flying is not for everyone, and it attracted a cast of eccentric, unforgettable mavericks who flew from one misadventure to the next, battling storms, desert winds, aircraft malfunctions, primitive navigational aids, loneliness, chemical imbalances, and dangerous Third World politics. Some carried on international scams and love affairs, some were lost at sea, some imprisoned by African despots. They’re all here, described with humor and high drama by one of their own, a survivor with phenomenal recall, a knack for distinguishing character from bluster, and a great ear for dialogue and aviation lore.

WASP of the Ferry Command is the story of the women ferry pilots who flew more than nine million miles in 72 different aircraft—115,000 pilot hours—for the Ferrying Division, Air Transport Command, during World War II. In the spring of 1942, Col. William H. Tunner lacked sufficient male pilots to move vital trainer aircraft from the factory to the training fields. Nancy Love found 28 experienced women pilots who could do the job. They, along with graduates of the Army's flight training school for women--established by Jacqueline Cochran--performed this duty until fall 1943, when manufacture of trainers ceased. In December 1943 the women ferry pilots went back to school to learn to fly high-performance WWII fighters, known as pursuits. By January 1944 they began delivering high performance P-51s, 47s, and 39s. Prior to D-Day and beyond, P-51s were crucial to the air war over Germany. They had the range to escort B-17s and B-24s from England to Berlin and back on bombing raids that ultimately brought down the German Reich. Getting those pursuits to the docks in New Jersey for shipment abroad became these women's primary job. Ultimately, more than one hundred WASP pursuit pilots were engaged in this vital movement of aircraft.

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice. An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love. This title has Common Core connections. A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013 A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013

"When the United States entered World War II, the Army needed pilots to transport or "ferry" its combat-bound aircraft across the United States for overseas deployment and its trainer airplanes to flight training bases. Male pilots were in short supply, so into this vacuum stepped Nancy Love and her Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Initially the Army implemented both the WAFS program and Jacqueline Cochran's more ambitious plan to train women to do many of the military's flight-related jobs stateside. By 1943, General Hap Arnold decided to combine the women's programs and formed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), with Cochran as the Director of Women Pilots. Love was named the Executive for WASP."