The Cannibal Queen: An Aerial Odyssey Across America
by Stephen Coonts
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The New York Times–bestselling icon of the techno-aviation thriller takes to the skies in this memoir of a great American adventure in an open-cockpit biplane.It was a bird's-eye view of America—and the trip of a lifetime for author Stephen Coonts and his fourteen-year-old son. But even for Coonts, who had clocked 1,600 hours as a naval aviator and was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross commendation, this was a first. He'd be flying closer to the earth than he ever had show more before. His big yellow wood-and-canvas bird was the Cannibal Queen, a Stearman open-cockpit biplane built in 1942. Destined for the scrap yard, it was rescued and restored for what Coonts would call his "Stearman summer."
On a clear June afternoon in 1991, Coonts and his son took off to see the country the same way the barnstormers flew their Jennys: with a map and a compass. Coonts followed highways, railroad lines, back roads, mountains, rivers, and landmarks. For the next three months, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, he touched down on the diverse landscapes of each of the forty-eight contiguous states to record the stories of the American countryside, its spirited people, and its rich history.
Soaring from big cities to the heartland, experiencing everything from Bourbon Street jazz and small-town barbershop quartets to greasy spoons and backyard barbeques, the author of Flight of the Intruder and The Art of War captures not only the singular thrill of biplane aviation, but a nostalgia for the simple pleasures of an America thought lost and forgotten. Stephen Coonts found it, and in The Cannibal Queen he shares every exultant moment.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author's personal collection.
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The author recounts his three-month, forty-eight-state flight into the heart of America in a 1942 Stearman bi-plane in the summer of 1991, describing the panorama of forests, mountains, rivers, and valleys beneath him.
the culture of the private plane comes delightfully to life as Coonts marvels at a country where every little town has its strip, its laconic air controller, its cheap, clean motel just down the road. His observations on world politics seem pedestrian, but his insight into general aviation is clear and noteworthy: ``The general aviation industry is dying. Federal regulation and the legal system have driven it to the lip of the grave where it is waiting to expire and fall in.'' Middle-class, upbeat to a fault, and show more unmeditative. Yet the descriptions of flight and the portrait of an America seemingly trapped in a time-warp are arresting. show less
the culture of the private plane comes delightfully to life as Coonts marvels at a country where every little town has its strip, its laconic air controller, its cheap, clean motel just down the road. His observations on world politics seem pedestrian, but his insight into general aviation is clear and noteworthy: ``The general aviation industry is dying. Federal regulation and the legal system have driven it to the lip of the grave where it is waiting to expire and fall in.'' Middle-class, upbeat to a fault, and show more unmeditative. Yet the descriptions of flight and the portrait of an America seemingly trapped in a time-warp are arresting. show less
Add the Cannibal Queen to my list of favorite travel tales: Blue Highways and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance—this time in a fifty-year-old World War II Stearman bi-plane. It’s a leisurely romp across America as former Naval Aviator and novelist Stephen Coonts spends a summer landing in every state in the continental U.S. The book is not really a piloting primer, but there’s a fair share of reflection on weather, winds, and landing a tail dragger properly, with a little bit of news (the fall of the U.S.S.R.), opinions about book publishing before eBooks, and the colorful characters who own and operate General Aviation Airports. Coonts belonged to my flying club while I lived in Colorado during the Eighties. Sorry I never show more got a chance to meet him. show less
This book relates the author's experience in flying an antique Stearman to all 48 continguous US states. I enjoyed the first part of the book best, when he was accompanied by his teenaged son. I liked the relationship between them. My husband, who is a pilot, enjoyed the flying sequences.
The author also shares his views on politics and government, which seem out of place in a travelogue. I wanted to get back to stories about his family and the people he met. Hubby wanted to get back to the flying.
The author also shares his views on politics and government, which seem out of place in a travelogue. I wanted to get back to stories about his family and the people he met. Hubby wanted to get back to the flying.
Love all Coonts books that I have read, and this is no exception. Recommended,
FROM AMAZON: In The Cannibal Queen, (Coonts) turns his storytelling genius to nonfiction with an exultant account of three glorious months in the summer of ‘91 spent in the cockpit of a 1942 Stearman vintage biplane. Joining the ranks of John Steinbeck and Charles Kuralt, Coonts takes us on an extraordinary adventure, touching down in all forty-eight of the continental United States.
On a clear, sunny Saturday in June, Coonts and his fourteen-year-old son David take off from Boulder, Colorado, in a 1942 Stearman open cockpit biplane, “a noisy forty-nine-year-old wood and canvas crate with a naked floozy painted on the side.”
The Queen started life as a show more World War II primary trainer then spent over thirty years as an agricultural spray plane before being lovingly restored. For Coonts, who’s logged thousands of hours in the Navy’s most sophisticated aircraft, the Queen is flying as he’s never known it before—flying close the earth, the wind teasing his helmet, equipped with little more than a map and a compass.
First stop is a Stearman fly-in in St. Francis, Kansas. there amid the barbecues and barber-shop quartets, the tree lined streets with their modest homes, Coonts feels nostalgia for small-town America, for a way of life he felt was dying. Yet, by the end of the journey, having met the friendly, richly individual people in towns large and small across the land, he knows our nation has weathered her first two hundred years remarkably well, and he is filled with hope for the future of this vast and varied land. show less
FROM AMAZON: In The Cannibal Queen, (Coonts) turns his storytelling genius to nonfiction with an exultant account of three glorious months in the summer of ‘91 spent in the cockpit of a 1942 Stearman vintage biplane. Joining the ranks of John Steinbeck and Charles Kuralt, Coonts takes us on an extraordinary adventure, touching down in all forty-eight of the continental United States.
On a clear, sunny Saturday in June, Coonts and his fourteen-year-old son David take off from Boulder, Colorado, in a 1942 Stearman open cockpit biplane, “a noisy forty-nine-year-old wood and canvas crate with a naked floozy painted on the side.”
The Queen started life as a show more World War II primary trainer then spent over thirty years as an agricultural spray plane before being lovingly restored. For Coonts, who’s logged thousands of hours in the Navy’s most sophisticated aircraft, the Queen is flying as he’s never known it before—flying close the earth, the wind teasing his helmet, equipped with little more than a map and a compass.
First stop is a Stearman fly-in in St. Francis, Kansas. there amid the barbecues and barber-shop quartets, the tree lined streets with their modest homes, Coonts feels nostalgia for small-town America, for a way of life he felt was dying. Yet, by the end of the journey, having met the friendly, richly individual people in towns large and small across the land, he knows our nation has weathered her first two hundred years remarkably well, and he is filled with hope for the future of this vast and varied land. show less
An interesting, if somewhat repetitious, account of the author's trip around the country in a restored WW2 Stearman biplane trainer. If you have any interest in flying -- especially in old equipment -- or travelogs, this is for you.
I'm pretty sure that I caught a glimpse of him over the Hudson near Rhinebeck at about the time he stopped at the nearby Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Bright yellow biplanes are not very common!
-R.
I'm pretty sure that I caught a glimpse of him over the Hudson near Rhinebeck at about the time he stopped at the nearby Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Bright yellow biplanes are not very common!
-R.
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Stephen Coonts was born on July 19, 1946 and grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia. He received an A.B. degree in political science from West Virginia University in 1968. He entered the U.S. Navy and received his Navy wings in August of 1969. He made two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise. After the Vietnam War, he served as a flight show more instructor aboard the USS Nimitz. He left active duty in 1977 and received a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1979. He went to West Virginia to practice and later, to Colorado to work as a staff attorney for an oil company. Coonts published his first novel, Flight of the Intruder, in 1986, which was adapted as into a film in 1991. Since then he has written more than 20 books including ones in the Jake Grafton Novel series, Saucer series, Deep Black series, and Tommy Carmellini series. He also published a work of nonfiction in 1992 called The Cannibal Queen and edited an anthology of true flying stories, War in the Air, in 1996. The U.S. Naval Institute honored him with its Author of the Year Award in 1986 for his novel, Flight of the Intruder. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1992
- People/Characters
- Steven Coonts
- Epigraph
- Oh, that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
--Psalms 55:6 - Dedication
- For Rachael, Lara and David
- First words
- All really great flying adventures begin at dawn - the dawn patrol, takeoff from Roosevelt Field for the flight across the Atlantic to Paris, launch at first light for a strike on Rabaul, and so on. Unfortunately this adventu... (show all)re was scheduled to begin at noon. It actually got under way at 1:35PM on a clear, sunny Saturday afternoon in June, late, as most things in my life are.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But that will be another story.
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