Flight of Passage

Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck is apparently a fairly well known book in the general aviation community. It is the story of two teenage boys who fix up their father's Piper Cub (71 Hotel) and then fly it across the country from New Jersey to California in the summer of 1966. The author of the book is the younger of the boys, who was 15 at the time. His older brother Kern was 17 and the pilot. Overall, I enjoyed the book, especially the flight West itself. There were some classic scenes, that I particularly enjoyed, like the foul mouthed pilots they met along the way such as Robert Pate and "Hank the Stearman Man." I thought some editing of the book would have really helped sales and it's overall popularity outside aviation circles. First, the run up to the flight and the refurbishing of the cub was too long and then the conclusion was lacking something I can't quite put my finger on...but it wasn't satisfying. However, the middle of the book, the flight itself was very entertaining and made the book worth the read. However, I found myself doubting the veracity of the author at certain points. There is nothing wrong with playing with things and exaggerating a little to make a story fit together, to be readable and to get at the actual kernel of truth of a thing without bogging down in detail, but there were a few too many incidents that didn't just quite ring true to me, such as playing chicken with the Greyhound bus full of passengers and forcing it in the ditch...just to name one of the many. But, who knows for sure...I've heard pilots, many of whom I'm related to, tell these types of stories. So, I guess what I'm saying is that this could all be true, but sometimes the truth can be so wild it doesn't ring true. So I will just leave it at that. Getting back to the conclusion...I guess there wasn't enough about how the flight changed their lives and continued to change their lives into middle age and there was WAY too much about the relationship with their father, which became tiresome. Finally, the most baffling part of the story was the fate of 71 Hotel itself. This plane that both of these boys loved was being used as a trainer in Vermont. The author flew the plane again and spoke of how much he loved it, but didn't try to buy it and keep it? That made no sense to me, especially since the older brother is a successful attorney and obviously has the money to buy it and fix it up...so yeah, really baffling and fed into the credibility gap of the book in general. Normally, I'm not so hard on authors, but I think this book had/has the potential to be really great, but needed/needs some help to get to the next level.