Zero Three Bravo: Solo Across America in a Small Plane

Crossing the country in her much-loved small plane (a Luscombe N803B, identified as Zero Three Bravo on radio transmissions), Gosnell, a former medical and science reporter for Newsweek, offers a bird's-eye view of our nation's land-, sea- and skyscapes. A flight-infatuated adventurer on a summer holiday, she wings happily aloft in the airlanes reserved for noncommercial craft, dipping low enough to distinguish country fields and city streets, or soaring upward to exult in the firmament. Here and there, she touches down for a dinner date, a shopping tour with her mother, or simply to reconnoiter a town, have a cup of coffee and gas up. All the while, Gosnell enthuses about her plane and the mechanics of flying, bringing to life the network of kindred spirits who use and staff the small airports that service the private flying community. With contagious delight, she opens up a unique world for her readers. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC alternate. (June)