But the book is more than just a series of trip diaries. Johanson wants us to understand how he grew from a shy, awkward teenager with low self-esteem into a world navigator. His years as a nurse and midwife gave him the stamina to complete the journeys, some of which were made up of 15 hour legs in the cramped cockpit of the RV-4. His experiences as a charter and freight pilot in the Australian Outback and his time at the Australian Aviation College gave him the skills he needed to assess the complex weather patterns, the bureaucracy of flying over multiple countries and wrangling landing permits, the connections for garnering sponsorship and the navigation savvy for getting from here to there across vast expanses of water and wilderness. Moreover, his experience building his own airplane, one tailor-made for circumnavigating the globe, gave him the skills he needed to keep it running in top form for 198 hours eastbound and 255 hours westbound around the world.
Aiming High is a good read for pilots and non-pilots alike, and it's available at many aviation booksellers. It's a book for travelers or anyone in need of a little inspiration. Pick it up and enjoy the ride. For more information, contact Wakefield Press, Box 226, Kent Town, South Australia, 5071.
Poster Fleet Addition
Cockpit posters are valuable training tools, a way for instructors to teach - and students to study - the location of instruments and switches in a particular airplane. Sporty's Pilot Shop has added a new member to its fleet of cockpit posters - the new Cessna 172R.
Like the rest of the poster fleet the 172 cockpit poster is clear and every instrument, placard, and switch is clearly visible. Even the smallest lettering is readable. Other aircraft in the cockpit poster fleet include the Boeing 777, Beech Starship, Beech Super King Air, Boeing 747-400, Learjet 55, Piper Archer, Piper Dakota, and Porsche Mooney.
Each poster measures 34 by 24 inches and is printed on 100-pound coated paper, which is specially varnished for a protective glossy finish. The Cessna 172R cockpit poster is $8.95. Sporty's also offers a poster framing kit for $59.95 that includes a clear, Acrylite sheet, backing board, all hardware, and an anodized aluminum frame in black, silver, or gold. To order, call Sporty's at 800-LIFTOFF.
Pilot's Pocket Decoder
To a new pilot the lexicon of aviation is full of strange, unfamiliar slang, symbols, acronyms, and abbreviations. Over time we all learn the lexicon, but a new book - Pilot's Pocket Decoder - cuts the learning process and offers a quick source of information on something we've not seen or heard before.
Written by Christopher J. Abbe and published by McGraw-Hill, the book contains more than 3,000 entries. You don't have to worry about wandering among all of them to find what you're looking for. All the terms are arranged alphabetically within 10 logical sections, from Weather-related Abbreviations to Transponder and Squawk Codes, from Slang to Military Designations.
At $11.95, the book is a bargain, especially when you consider the memory "joggers" it includes. Some are familiar, such as the GUMPS (gas, undercarriage, mixture, props, seat belts) prelanding checklist, but others aren't, such as COWS (weather fronts in order of severity - cold, occluded, warm, and stationary) and Tomato Flames (the required VFR day equipment - tachometer, oil pressure gauge, manifold pressure, altimeter, temperature gauge [liquid cooled], oil temperature gauge [air cooled], fuel gauge, landing gear position indicator, airspeed indicator, magnetic direction indicator [compass], emergency locator transmitter, seat belts).
For more information, contact McGraw-Hill, 11 West 19th St., New York, NY 10011; 800/MCGRAW.
Sigtronics Super-Light
Sigtronics Corporation has added the Super-Light S-58 to its line of noise attenuating headsets. Developed as a result of customer input and engineering evolution, the new S-58 series weighs a mere 11.9 ounces and features a new "Flex Boom." Covered by a five-year warranty, the Super-Light has a more comfortable headpad, reversible custom-flex boom with a new noise-canceling microphone, and gel ear seals.
The S-58 series has 105-strand "Stop Break" cords, non-glare powder-coated hardware, and comes with a headset bag. The suggested retail price is $329. For more information, contact Sigtronics Corporation, 949 North Cataract Ave. #D, San Dimas, CA 91773; 909/305-9399. Or use Flight Training's reader service card.
Global Navigation for Pilots
As the world grows smaller through advances in communication and transportation, an increasing number of pilots want and need an understanding of - and proficiency in - long-distance navigation. This subject used to be the domain of airline pilots who used sophisticated systems to navigate their international routes. No more. Now it's taught in university and flight school courses worldwide. One of the textbooks used in these courses is Global Navigation for Pilots, now in its second edition and available from ASA.
The 350-page book covers every component of the title subject in detail, from a discussion of ICAO history and regulations to planning, flight operations, and navigation history. It explains aeronautical charts and navigation techniques for plotting and measuring distance. In the second edition, authors Dale DeRemer and Donald W. McLean have prepared the book for the next century. In addition to new graphics and text, they've provided critical information on European planning, systems, and regulations; new chapters on GPS technology and its applications; and FANS - future air navigation systems.
New material also covers the ICAO findings and recommendations on FANS. This chapter offers a glimpse into what the future holds for long-distance and trans-oceanic flight. Global Navigation for Pilots has a suggested retail price of $29.95. For more information, contact ASA, 7005 132nd Place SE, Newcastle, WA 98059-3153; 800/426-8338, 425/235-1500.
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