Galt Airport in northern Illinois is known to the people who fly out of it as “One-Zero-Charlie” (for its FAA designation as Airport 10C). This evocative excursion into a little-known part of the heart of America takes us to a place where a love of flying draws people together, and a fascination with its sheer exhilaration keeps them that way.
Rich Schaffer served the Lord for 20 years as a missionary pilot with the Sudan Interior Mission in Nigeria, West Africa. Harold Fuller wrote .. Great stuff, Rich. You have a very interesting writing style .. reconstructing conversation, describing vividly, building suspense. Were enjoying the chapters as you send them. I knew you were an accomplished pilot, but had no idea of your writing skills. Glad you are now using them! Flying with Rich at the controls was always okay. Although my heart at times pounded as the tiny Cessna faced a threatening tropical storm. I knew this matter-of fact guy of few words had the courage and professional experience to find a hole through or around the thunderheads and bring us out safely on the other side. And Rich always acknowledged that the Lord had given him the qualities that made him a top-rate pilot for Africas uncertain weather and questionable landing strips. In this story about SIMAIR, Rich takes the reader through many an adventure that showed Gods hand to be on the Mission aircraft and its occupants. With vivid description and homey dialogue , Rich weaves an honest account how God took a little boy from a tarpaper shack in Americas Midwest and made him part of a team who brought the Gospel to the neglected interior of West Africa .. fullfilling his boyhood dream of flying. Down to earth humor, growing pains, high adventure, finding God in dry season and rainy-season tempest .. Rich holds the readers attention from pagecone to the storys end. W. Harold Fuller, Lit.D (SIM Nigeria Director for several years of the Shaffers ministry)
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Christian Church used it to fend off heretics. Today it's a timebomb ticking in the heart of astrophysics. For zero, infinity's twin, is not like other numbers. It is both nothing and everything. Zero has pitted East against West and faith against reason, and its intransigence persists in the dark core of a black hole and the brilliant flash of the Big Bang. Today, zero lies at the heart of one of the biggest scientific controversies of all time: the quest for a theory of everything. Within the concept of zero lies a philosophical and scientific history of humanity. Charles Seife's elegant and witty account takes us from Aristotle to superstring theory by way of Egyptian geometry, Kabbalism, Einstein, the Chandrasekhar limit and Stephen Hawking. Covering centuries of thought, it is a concise tour of a world of ideas, bound up in the simple notion of nothing.
A selection of cautionary tales by a legendary Army pilot for the benefit of those just starting their careers in aviation. 'Tales for Beginners' are all factual stories, often at the expense of the author, which bring out useful and light-hearted lessons in flight safety. Covering a lifetime in the Army, these tales include basic training and early operations at home and abroad, counter-terrorist operations in Aden, and the subsequent terrors of staff work and command.
A rare look inside the British Army’s elite special forces unit and its counter-terrorism surveillance operations—from one of its own. Few outside the security services have heard of 14 Company. As deadly as the SAS yet more secret, the Operators of 14 Company are Britain’s most effective weapon against international terrorism. For every bomb that goes off 14 Company prevent twelve. The selection process is the most physically, intellectually and emotionally demanding anywhere in the world. Trained to operate under cover, Operators have at their disposal an arsenal of techniques and weapons unmatched by any other UK government or military agency. This is the true story of one Operator and of some of the most hair-raising military operations ever conducted on the streets of Britain.
"From celebrated music writer Dan Ozzi comes a comprehensive chronicle of the punk music scene's evolution from the early nineties to the mid-aughts, following eleven bands as they dissolved, "sold out," and rose to surprise stardom. From its inception, punk music has been identified by two factors: its proximity to "authenticity," and its reliance on an antiestablishment ethos. Yet, in the mid- to late '90s, major record labels sought to capitalize on punk's rebellious undertones, leading to a schism in the scene: to accept the cash flow of the majors, or stick to indie cred?Sellout chronicles the evolution of the punk scene during this era, focusing on prominent bands as they experienced the last "gold rush" of the music industry. Within it, music writer Dan Ozzi follows the rise of successful bands like Green Day and Jimmy Eat World, as well as the implosion of groups like Jawbreaker and At the Drive-In, who buckled under the pressure of their striving labels. Featuring original interviews and personal stories from members of eleven of modern punk's most (in)famous bands, Sellout is the history of the evolution of the music industry, and a punk rock lover's guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era. "--
The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.
Michael Hunter is a dreamer who longs to become a pilot. His classmates and teachers have nicknamed him the daydreamer. Despite his best efforts to pay attention, Michael often finds himself dreaming of flying. He also dreams of Karen McCormick, the quarterback's girlfriend. When a chance encounter with a pilot gives him the opportunity to discover what flying is really like, Michael becomes determined to do whatever it takes to succeed so that he can eventually enroll in flight school. The only problem is, the more Michael succeeds at his school work or other activities, the more prideful he becomes. And although his mother warns him to let go of his pride and put his faith in the Lord, Michael believes he has everything under control and that he can take on the world. After battling bullies, rumors, and winning the girl of his dreams, it seems that nothing can slow him down. But as his mother says, Pride goes before a fall. Will it be the key to Michael's undoing? Read more in Dreamer: The Rise and Fall of the Flyer.
The British Army's Challenger II Main Battle Tank is one of the most awesome war machines ever built. In March 2003, three Squadrons of Challenger 2s from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, part of Britain's 7th Armoured Brigade, the fabled Desert Rats, gathered in Southern Iraq to prepare for battle.The Army's newest Big Guns were going to war for the first time. But Operation TELIC was a war which the Challenger 2, designed to operate in the fog and mud of the Central European Plain, had never been expected to fight. And one that would quickly break every rule of tank warfare including the golden maxim: never take a tank into a town. In Main Battle Tank, author Niall Edworthy, granted unprecedented access to the Scots DGs, tells the story of an extraordinary chapter in the history of British Army. From the terrifying rescue of a stricken Challenger 2 and countless nerve-shredding raids into Basra and Az Zubyar, to the biggest tank engagement fought by the British since the end of WWII, Main Battle Tank is the brutal, blistering true story of a war that tested man and machine to the bloody limit.