North Star over My Shoulder: A Flying Life

by Bob Buck

Captain Robert N. Buck retired from TWA after having flown well over two thousand Atlantic crossings and thirty-seven years of service as chief pilot and director of thunderstorm research. During World War II he was engaged in weather research for the U.S. Air Corps, for which he was awarded, as a civilian, the Air Medal by President Harry Truman. More recently, Buck has worked with the International Civil Aviation Organization -- the UN's body for aviation -- to develop a new plan of world airspace.
In North Star over My Shoulder, Bob Buck tells of a life spent up and over the clouds, and of the wonderful places and marvelous people who have been a part of that life. He captures the feel, taste, and smell of flying's great early era -- how the people lived, what they did and felt, and what it was really like to be a part of the world as it grew smaller and smaller. A terrific storyteller and a fascinating man, Bob Buck has turned his well-lived life into a delightful memoir for anyone who remembers when there really was something special in the air.

Genres: Aviation, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Memoir

448 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2002

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories of the early days of passenger air travel by a wonderful teller of stories, who was a career pilot. Come for the basically self-taught cross-country navigation skills. Stay for the on-the-job co-pilot training, cranking of the landing gear, the snow inside the DC-2 cabins, the weather situations, the icing of carburetors (just one of the very interesting bits of history—after an unexplained engine slowdown, that turns out to be a chronic occurrence in the fleet, the author/pilot does not stop asking questions until he isolates the problem. How he gets his penny pinching managers to fix the problem for the fleet brilliantly completes an great anecdote that is one of the many in this volume), and the cute hostesses. The book ends around the end of the last century, which makes it into modern air travel, but unfortunately, I was not able to finish and had to leave the book with my dad. Four stars for as far as I got (the early 1940s).

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buck has lead a fascinating life in the air, and on that merit alone I give this book the three stars. The amount of aviation history of you learn about by reading his story is amazing.

Unfortunately the content only barely sustains the horrid writing. It suffers from the same bland and cliched writing that anyone who regularly reads aviation magazines is all too familiar with. I'm talking about things like not understanding which details are relevant to a story and which aren't, so the author just throws them all in because, I assume the logic goes, those propellerheads will eat up anything even tangentially related to flying. He also follows the same secret formula that indicates exactly how many adjectives and adverbs need to be in a sentence to convey the appropriate emotion (no doubt with thesaurus at the ready to provide all those fancy words). Unfortunately the effect is, as always, the exact opposite: all sense of emotion is drained by the awkwardly composed prose and forced feel to the writing voice.

If you can make yourself wade through the horrible style, you'll be rewarded with potentially magical stories like what it was like to navigate the old airliners by the stars, but you'll have to provide the magical aspect yourself because Buck tells it like it wasn't...drawn out and boring.

[Craig Daniels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit of a poor man’s Fate is the Hunter, by Ernie Gann (who, ironically is referenced by this author in this book and knew him). They flew at the same time, on the same aircraft, and both were involved in some unique, envelope-pushing flying and witnessed monumental change. In this case, there are a good number of interesting anecdotes, particularly about the investigation of weather, but they’re not delivered with near the crisp, clear, seat-of-the-pants handling of Gann (who, frankly, is a remarkably gifted writer and story teller). Buck additionally spends far too much time blathering on about all the famous people, particularly actors, he met during his career (really, who cares?). And he has a dreadfully patronizing attitude about women, and flight attendants, which continuously leaks through the pages. That aside, it’s a decent enough window into the transformation of passenger air service, from its earliest days through to modern era. 2 1/2 stars.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

My notes: Great first chapter, mixed after that. Stalled 6/15/15. DNF. 2.5 stars

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It stands proudly next to the legendary Ernie Gann's autobiography: Faint Is The Hunter. One of the best aviation books I've read and I've read more than a few.

[Brian Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a poorly written book, and bears no comparison at all to Ernie Gann's Fate is the Hunter even though they tell similar tales from the same era.

Bob Buck simply cannot write, Gann could. North Star is a mildly interesting read - once, but only to aviation enthusiasts. It is full of peripheral, frequently boring detail, name dropping and gives the impression of "the big I am". By contrast Gann writes beautifully, and in a personally very understated manner.

If you are looking for literature as well as aviation, choose Gann. I don't know that I regret buying this book, but I read it once only and it has languished on my bookshelf ever since. I have lost count of the number of times I have read Fate is the Hunter.

[Maxipici · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passing with flying colors

This book is telling the history of US based commercial flying, through the first hand experiences of Bob Buck, a veteran airline pilot with exceptional achievements, starting at the pre-WW2 era, all the way well into the jet age.
The story telling is excellent and it is hard to put the book down to take a break.
It is highly recommended for anyone interested in aviation, even the slightest, and those enjoying stories about travelling the world.

[Scott Umbel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books I’ve read in a while. For those that like to read aviation novels and historical fiction, this is a fantastic read. It’s from a completely different angle and incredible to hear the technological innovations in early aviation from an aviator pioneer.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant look at the early years of flying, before Jet flight, by a pilot who flew everything from Barnstorming Biplanes to being one of the first pilots to fly the 707 and 747 .

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

"North Star Over My Shoulder, 'A flying life'". Bob Buck, 2002. Sitting high in the left seat of a TWA Boeing 747, literally perched from the pinnacle of his career, Captain Bob Buck reflects back on his experiences in aviation, -his 'flying life'. And although I too share this familiar 'flying life' it was exhilarating to read words that I have often thought, experienced and felt. I would have liked to have flown with Bob Buck. Even though our experiences are several generations a part, we share mutual friends, have flown the same types of aircraft, and share the same mind set. But unlike myself, Buck flew in the early days of the airlines. He was a genuine pioneer. Bob Buck, being an obviously humble man, would never have labeled himself as such, which is one of the many reasons why this book makes for such an enjoyable read.
  

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Buck is a pioneer in aviation having learned to fly at the age of 16 in 1929. He went on to flying for one of the first airlines in the U.S. During WWII he flew transports all over the world for the Army Air Corps. Retired from TWA in the 1970's after flying 747's. In his writing he teaches the reader many tricks of the trade flying in vairous situatuions and coping with constantly changing weather conditions. Tons of flying experiences varying from realaxed to very intense, he shares with the reader.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the book. It is not a literary masterpiece but it takes you to a time where pilots were heros and flying a jet over the Atlantic was an adventure and not an everyday occurrence. Plus, Bob stayed in Bad Homburg (even though he spells it Bad Hamburg) in the old Ritters Parkhotel (which is now the Steigenberger) which made this even more "close to home" for me.

I guess I can only recommend the book though for people with a serious connection to flying. Otherwise you probably will think that it is lacking depth.

[Beau Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The flying life of Bob Buck. Thi sis the man that inspired Charles Lindburgh. Buck's life was really exciting and he crossed paths with some of the most famous and infamous characters of the early 1900's. This is a must read memoir.

[Jim Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendous story of aviation told by a man who started in the earliest days and flew into the modern age of commercial flight.

Full of adventure and great tales- equally appealing to aviation enthusiasts to those who take to the skies as passengers for business or pleasure!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former private/instrument rated pilot I thought this book would be interesting and it was even more than that. A very readable, well-told and thoughtful story of a life spent largely in the air all over the world.

[Mrs. Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like aviation history, definitely check out this book. The constant references to the attractive hostesses got annoying after a while, but the overall story is quite interesting for anyone who wants to know more about the early years of commercial flight in America.

[Mark Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book written autobiographically of Bob who grew up on the cutting edge of aviation and navigation systems. It was fascinating getting a history of flight and the development of airports, systems and processes as aviation "took off".

[T.A. Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not a great book, but an interesting read. It gives some insight into the early days of airline flying.

[Alex Siegel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Robert]

If you're interested in the history of commercial flying, this is the book for you. This guy's a good writer. I bet he was a heckuva pilot, too. Fascinating read.

[Catherine Richmond]

Bob Buck led a charmed life. He set a coast-to-coast speed record in a biplane at age 16. His airline career spanned DC2s to 747s. He researched weather and lived to tell about it. He flew Tyrone Power around, circled the globe pole-to-pole, and explored the world when airline flying was glamorous. Yet I wanted to ask how his wife managed when she came down with influenza while the children were in diapers and the washing machine was on the fritz and the car battery died and mice took up residence in the kitchen.