The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying In Alaska

by Colleen Mondor

The Map of My Dead Pilots is about flying, pilots, and Alaska, the beautiful and deadly Last Frontier. Author Colleen Mondor spent four years running dispatch operations for a Fairbanks-based commuter and charter airline, and she knows all too well the gap between the romance and reality of small plane piloting in the wildest territory of the United States. From overloaded aircraft to wings covered in ice, from flying sled dogs and dead bodies, piloting in Alaska is about living hard and working even harder.

What Mondor witnessed day to day would make anyone’s hair stand on end. Ultimately, it is the pilots themselves—laced with ice and whiskey, death and camaraderie, silence and engine roar—and their harrowing tales who capture her imagination. In fine detail, this series of stories reveals the technical side of flying, the history of Alaskan aviation, and a world that demands a close communion with extreme physical danger and emotional toughness.

259 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[W.B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone thinking of flying in the AK bush- whether as a pilot, sightseer or commuter, this book will strip away the myths and give you a realistic look at what you're getting yourself into. This is an honest, thoughtful and well written memoir~ highly recommended.