Absolute Altitude: A Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Sky.

by Martin Buckley

In this exciting and unusual travel book, Martin Buckley journeys through many places, from Benbecula to Rarotonga, from Sudan to New Zealand, from Corsica to Tucson, Arizona - but the country he explores is a romantic and dangerous place that seduces all who travel there - the sky.

Three years ago, Martin Buckley gained a pilot's licence, and set off to 'hitch-hike' by plane around the world. His encounters with a range of sometimes eccentric and always obsessive pilots led to aid flights through war zones in a UN Cessna, aerobatics in a jet fighter, chasing goats across snowy mountains by helicopter and touching the edge of the stratosphere in a Learjet.

The result is a wholly original travel book, free-spirited and often very funny, weaving a bird's-eye view of aviation's peculiar history into the narrative and offering intimate insights into the passion and perils of the pilot's seat.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Aviation, Biography, History

273 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Angela Pleasance · Rating 5 out of 5]

The blurb on the back of the book tells you that once the author had gained his pilot’s licence he set off to hitchhike around the world by plane. That implies a continuity of travel which is absent from the book. However, it is a series of stories about flying in different parts of the world and in various aircraft, for free. Along the way we are introduced to fascinating characters and their lives. Interspersed with this is the story of the development of aviation. Martin Buckley does all this with a natural modesty and flare for storytelling which keeps the reader turning the pages.
Unfortunately all this happened before 9/11 and would not be possible now.
I learnt to fly nearly 40 years ago and I have wondered if one has to be interested in aviation to enjoy the book, but I have concluded that one only needs to be interested in life.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my second attempt to get through this book and again I'm struggling with it. I was hoping it would be what the blurb promised, with a guy hitching rides on 'planes to travel across the world. But the first half of the book feels like total padding, with pages devoted to a history of early flight and arguments about who really invented powered flight. Well, if I wanted to know that maybe I'd read The Wright Brothers, or a similar history. I wanted to read a travelogue though and that's not what I got. I did enjoy the brief chapters where the author is learning to fly, and I'd give them four stars. But the rest of the Wikipedia cut and paste research would get one star. Currently unfinished, and I don't think I'm going back to it.

[Julian Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fabulously engaging book - packed with history and anecdotes, I bought this because of the cover, and couldn't be more pleased with my purchase.

The author's passion for flying is infections and his writing style superb, as he takes you through the development of manned-flight - from way before the Wright brothers (it's all history so no real spoiler alert there) to completing his odyssey in far flung parts of the world - to modern day developments, with all kinds of enthusiasts in all sorts of contraptions.

This is a genuine treat of a book.

[Attila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what it says on the box. The back cover says it is a story of a man hitch-hiking through the globe by plane; however, there are only short and disconnected episodes of flying, and most of the book is taken up by history lessons about aviation pioneers and memories (while these are interesting, I knew about most of them, and it is not what I expected).

[Y · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favourite of all time. The author managed to keep it all entertaining, alternating between his story around the world and the history of aviation.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

487 - 2015