A memoir of two teenage brothers' cross-country flight in a Piper Cub in 1966: "A terrific book... Huckleberry Finn meets The Spirit of St. Louis." -- Chicago Sun-Times

In the summer of 1966, Rinker and Kern Buck, two teenagers from New Jersey, bought a dilapidated Piper Cub for $300, rebuilt it, and piloted it on a record-breaking flight across America, navigating all the way to California without a radio, because they couldn't afford one. Their trip retraced a mythical route flown by their father, Tom Buck, a brash, colorful ex-barnstormer who had lost a leg in a tragic air crash before his sons were born, but who so loved the adventure of flight that he taught his boys to fly before they could drive. Along the way, the brothers would battle thunderstorms and wracking turbulence and encounter cowboys and crop dusters and the smalltown cafes, cheap motels, and dusty landing strips of pre-Vietnam America. These two young men must separate from their difficult, quirky father -- literally by putting a country's distance between them -- but they do it on their father's terms: in an airplane.

"This is more than a flying adventure -- it is also a warm, affectionate account of an unusual family." -- The Newark Star-Ledger

"Colorful, exhilarating, heart-stirring." -- Booklist

"[An] enchanting story [with] masterly insider descriptions of flight." -- Kirkus Reviews

"An adventure full of fraternal jealousy... boneheaded hubris, and unbridled fun and freedom." -- The Boston Globe

"A funny, cocky gem of a book." -- The New Yorker

Includes photographs

• We started tracking this book on February 12, 2013.
• This book was $9.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 55 times in the past 4,547 days.
• The current price of this book is $9.99 last checked 16 hours ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $2.99.
• The lowest price to date was $2.99 last reached on July 3, 2025.
• This book has been $2.99 20 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $13.96 last reached on March 4, 2025.
• This book has been $13.96 2 times since we started tracking it.

• HistoryWorldTransportationAviation

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 369 Pages
• File Size: 55 KB