Fate is the Hunter

[Daveman]

Read "Endurance" Shackleton's incredible voyage.
by. Alfred Lansing.

You talk about a Captain, this man is a legend.

A Captain under the Sea, on the Sea or over the Sea. Some men are legends, others aren't.

 

[wrxpilot]

Perhaps you've not had to chance to sit down with some of the pilots who did the things Gann describes in the book and listen to their stories. If you didn't have any heroes before that opportunity, you would afterward. We all stand rather safely and comfortably on the shoulders of what these guys did for aviation and they deserve our respect, not our doubts. I suppose that not being there, it's hard to fathom what actually happened and what it took to be a part of it...both during WW2 and in airline flying post-war.

I've also been fortunate enough to talk to somebody that was around in those days... Amazingly enough it was my grandfather (has since passed away). He was a ferry pilot in WW2 and survived a DC3 ditching in the Pacific (they were out there floating on a raft for days and were found under the most bizarre circumstances). He also survived a catastraphic crash on takeoff as a F/O. Many other stories that must've been terrifying - and the crew was cleared of wrong doing for each incident. It was just a dangerous time to be a pilot. He went on to fly for TWA in the post-war years, and has been an inspiration to our family (two of his children became commerical pilots, and 1 grandson (me) is working towards it). He was always very humble about it, and you'd practically have to squeeze the info out of him. If it wasn't for the pictures he had (being rescued in the Pacific, the takeoff accident, etc.) it'd probably be easy to dismiss it as BS. But when you talk to those guys it's quite clear that they're badass and have forgotten more about aviation than somebody like me will ever hope to know.

Fate is the Hunter is excellent. Like somebody else said, you can practically see the FAR's being written as each chapter passes. They did some dangerous things, but they were different times. The risks they took rose substantially during war duty, but that's what was required at the time. Fortunately it will probably never be like that again, but it sure seems disrespectful to say guys like Gann are spouting BS. RadarLove has obviously not spoken to that generation of flyers that pioneered aviation with their blood.

 

[Huck]

"Winging It," by Jack Jefford, is another good one.

He started out in a Lockheed Vega, bushflying in Alaska. Later flew for the FAA, checking routes and supporting facilities. Once crashed on a mountain and waited 5 days in a snow cave until rescued by dogsled. He flew a long time - his last aircraft was the Sabreliner.

 

[FlierDude]

.
Bump.

Just saw that the 2 films "The Duke" made of Gann's books will be on the TV soon. "Fate is the Hunter" and "Islands in the Sky" will be on AMC (American Movie Classics) 8 p.m. on July 16 and 17.

Gentlemen, start your TIVO's.

.

 

[pilotyip]

After reading "Fate", anyone seeing the movie "Fate is the Hunter" with Glenn Ford will be terribly disappointed. It is a terrible movie. If I remember right it does not even have any good flying scenes.

 

[Donsa320]

After reading "Fate", anyone seeing the movie "Fate is the Hunter" with Glenn Ford will be terribly disappointed. It is a terrible movie. If I remember right it does not even have any good flying scenes.[/QUOTE

I'm told by friends of mine who knew Gann personnally that he was so unhappy about what Hollywood had done with "Fate..." that he vowed never to sell the movie rights to anymore of his books. And I do not blame him, "Fate..." the movie was just plain awful.

~DC

 

[Donsa320]

.
Bump.

Just saw that the 2 films "The Duke" made of Gann's books will be on the TV soon. "Fate is the Hunter" and "Islands in the Sky" will be on AMC (American Movie Classics) 8 p.m. on July 16 and 17.

Gentlemen, start your TIVO's.

.

I hope you mean "The High and the Mighty" not "Fate is the Hunter". "Fate..." the movie, is a "Schtunk", as we used to say, and John Wayne had nothing to do with it as I recall. <bg>

~DC

 

[FlierDude]

.
Donsa, you're right. The movies in July will be "The High and The Mighty" and "Islands in the Sky". Late hour, and old brain.

 

[xjhawk]

hey big shot.......i did not come to this thread to hear you tell me about your mommy and daddy paying 35k a year while you played flight sim on fridays and saturday nights....while most of us were working...or out at the bars.....by the way.....did your parents....do your parents still pay your bills....it has been since.....2001 since i have started working as a professional pilot and i am still 10 grand away from making 35K a year......oh...by the way....thanks ALPA for not being as strong as the local bus or car mechanic union that gives their memebers a higher livable wage than what i am recieving right now

 

[FlierDude]

.
xjhawk, let us know which thread that post was really meant for. Sounds like it might be fun to look into!

.

 

[xjhawk]

oh, it was this thread, some one made a comment of their parents paying 35k a year for their education.......was clueless about how unspoiled people live their life in this industry.........

 

[BD King]

Ernie Gann has been nominated to the National Aviation Hall Of Fame. I dropped the application off Tuesday morning. I figured that it was time to move on from having some "ace" whose contribution to aviation was shooting down a few Nazi's to someone who directly, or indirectly, had an influence on some, if not all of us.


www.bdkingpress.com

 

[oldxfr8dog]

Ernie Gann has been nominated to the National Aviation Hall Of Fame. I dropped the application off Tuesday morning. I figured that it was time to move on from having some "ace" whose contribution to aviation was shooting down a few Nazi's to someone who directly, or indirectly, had an influence on some, if not all of us.


www.bdkingpress.com

GOOD MOVE!!!
How can we influence the outcome?

 

[ATRCAPT]

Ernie Gann has been nominated to the National Aviation Hall Of Fame. I dropped the application off Tuesday morning. I figured that it was time to move on from having some "ace" whose contribution to aviation was shooting down a few Nazi's to someone who directly, or indirectly, had an influence on some, if not all of us.


www.bdkingpress.com

I'll second that! Where do I sign?

 

[BD King]

GOOD MOVE!!!
How can we influence the outcome?

I don't know right now. The big shindig is in two weeks for the enshrinement of the current folks. I'll poke around and see if I can come up with a method.

www.bdkingpress.com

 

[ivauir]

... time to move on from having some "ace" whose contribution to aviation was shooting down a few Nazi's ...

Not that there is anything wrong with that

 

[ATRCAPT]

I emailed the curator of the Museum of Flight at BFI a few years ago suggesting they put together an Ernest K. Gann exhibit. Since he was a Pacific Northwest personality I would have tought they would have jumped at the idea. They have a very nice exhibit on the life of Elry Jeppesen. No such luck.