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The Day I Owned the Sky
One of America's great fighter pilots and the author of "God Is My Co-Pilot" describes his lifelong love affair with flying, his battle to get into the Air Corps, his marriage to Kitty Rix, and his walk along the Great Wall of China
238 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 15, 2009
God Is My Copilot was written in 1943 and much of the story was left out. This is the rest of the story plus all of his adventures after. Great story telling and great life lessons!
September 13, 2018
Very interesting autobiography. Fascinating man of moral character. Fighter pilot during WW2 based out of China fighting the Japanese - ace couple times over - incredibile reputation. Man of character and very goal oriented, as demonstrated by his tenacious accomplishment of his goal to walk the length of the Great Wall of China (which he did when he was 70 years old!). Has a number of other books which sound like they would be worth reading
March 10, 2019
If you read God is My Copilot then you should read this to find out what happened to a flyer who spent an entire life doing it. Also chronicles his life long quest to walk the Great Wall of China.
February 5, 2013
This is a delightful and inspiring memoir by former fighter pilot, Brig. Gen. Robert Lee Scott, Jr.
While the story serves in part as a continuation of General Scott's wartime biography, "God is My Co-pilot", it also chronicles his life-long enthusiasm for the travels of Marco Polo and his ambition to one day follow in Polo's footsteps along the entire distance of the old silk road and the Great Wall of China. It describes how, thanks to the effort of a high Pakistani official*, he received permission to visit Kashmir where he even got lost in blizzard during which he inadvertently strayed into China (yaks will only go downwind) before negotiating his release to return to Kashmir on the strength of his wartime reputation as a former Flying Tiger.
Scott also finally managed to walk the entire length of the Great Wall after slipping away from a regular tourist group at the age of 66. He only avoided trouble from the Chinese officials by explaining the notes on his maps were where he had carved his name in Chinese ideographs on a couple of the guard towers. When the general 'escorting' him saw the carvings for himself he laughed and said in heavily-accented English, "Kilroy was here!" much to Scott's surprize and delight. General Scott also described meeting George H.W. Bush once when he was part of a delegation to Beijing, before he became our 41st President.
On his return from China Scott became a supporter and outstanding icon of the Macon, Georgia Air Museum, and served to inspire young aviation enthusiasts while also maintaining his flying skills in the cockpit of modern jets right up to his death in 2006.
*Months later a coup overthrew the leader of Pakistan, and the signature on his last declaration of loyalty matched the signature on Scott's entry permit - and the leader's background story convinced him that he had only been given permission to enter Pakistan because the leader had been the same little boy whose Sikh father had guarded Scott's C-47 transport plane during the evacuation flights from Rangoon, Burma during early 1942. The Sikh Sgt. had refused to be evacuated when Scott offered to take him and his son along on the final flight out of Burma, and so had the little boy who was determined to walk out of Burma beside his father.
The little boy's story matched the leader of Pakistan's background to a tee; and his daughter was Benasir Bhuto, who also went on to become the leader of Pakistan, before her own assassination right about the time that I recorded "The Day I Owned the Sky" on audio CD's for my local radio station for blind & reading-impaired listeners.
While the story serves in part as a continuation of General Scott's wartime biography, "God is My Co-pilot", it also chronicles his life-long enthusiasm for the travels of Marco Polo and his ambition to one day follow in Polo's footsteps along the entire distance of the old silk road and the Great Wall of China. It describes how, thanks to the effort of a high Pakistani official*, he received permission to visit Kashmir where he even got lost in blizzard during which he inadvertently strayed into China (yaks will only go downwind) before negotiating his release to return to Kashmir on the strength of his wartime reputation as a former Flying Tiger.
Scott also finally managed to walk the entire length of the Great Wall after slipping away from a regular tourist group at the age of 66. He only avoided trouble from the Chinese officials by explaining the notes on his maps were where he had carved his name in Chinese ideographs on a couple of the guard towers. When the general 'escorting' him saw the carvings for himself he laughed and said in heavily-accented English, "Kilroy was here!" much to Scott's surprize and delight. General Scott also described meeting George H.W. Bush once when he was part of a delegation to Beijing, before he became our 41st President.
On his return from China Scott became a supporter and outstanding icon of the Macon, Georgia Air Museum, and served to inspire young aviation enthusiasts while also maintaining his flying skills in the cockpit of modern jets right up to his death in 2006.
*Months later a coup overthrew the leader of Pakistan, and the signature on his last declaration of loyalty matched the signature on Scott's entry permit - and the leader's background story convinced him that he had only been given permission to enter Pakistan because the leader had been the same little boy whose Sikh father had guarded Scott's C-47 transport plane during the evacuation flights from Rangoon, Burma during early 1942. The Sikh Sgt. had refused to be evacuated when Scott offered to take him and his son along on the final flight out of Burma, and so had the little boy who was determined to walk out of Burma beside his father.
The little boy's story matched the leader of Pakistan's background to a tee; and his daughter was Benasir Bhuto, who also went on to become the leader of Pakistan, before her own assassination right about the time that I recorded "The Day I Owned the Sky" on audio CD's for my local radio station for blind & reading-impaired listeners.
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April 10, 2008358.4
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews