Flights of No Return: Aviation History's Most Infamous One-Way Tickets to Immortality

by Steven A. Ruffin

Overview

Discover the mysterious, controversial, and sometimes downright eerie history of flights that didn't end as planned. The history of aviation is full of accounts of history's most spectacular flights. But what about the ones from which someone failed to return? - A celebrated millionaire--who also happened to be the world's foremost aviator--lifted off in a small plane one clear morning in 2007 and disappeared. - The glamorous son of a beloved fallen president took off on a hazy summer night in 1999 and plunged himself and two others into the Atlantic Ocean. - A US Navy blimp landed one Sunday morning in 1942 in the middle of a city street in California with no one aboard. Some of these "non-returns" occurred because of errors in judgment; others were intentional, and some resulted from causes still unknown. Get the full, meticulous account of the fascinating people involved in these flights, the mistakes they made, and the ways in which their "flight of no return" affected the world. Pilot and aviation writer Steven A. Ruffin covers the entire 230-year span of manned flight in all types of aircraft through war and peace. Balloons, blimps, biplanes, jets, and spaceships have all suffered mishaps over the years. Don't miss the mystery, adventure, intrigue, and a sprinkling of the supernatural and extraterrestrial in Flights of No Return.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627888721
Publisher:	Zenith Press
Publication date:	05/01/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	38 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Steven A. Ruffin is an aviation writer and pilot with a lifelong interest in the history of flight. He served for four years as managing editor of the World War I aviation journal Over the Front and is an eight-time winner of the League of World War I Aviation Historians' Hooper Award for writing and editorial excellence. In 2005, Steve published his first book, Aviation's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Winged Wonders, Lucky Landings, and Other Aerial Oddities, later distributed internationally under the titleTop Fun. Steve has been a licensed pilot since 1972 and has owned and flown both vintage and experimental aircraft. He is a longtime member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and after serving in the US military for 24 years, he retired in 2003 as a colonel in the US Air Force. He currently lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Preface 6

Acknowledgments 7

Introduction 8

Prologue: First To Fall 10

Section I When Luck Runs Out

Chapter 1 A Deadly Sunday Drive 21

Chapter 2 Disappearance Of the Midnight Ghosts 30

Chapter 3 The Spark That Ended an Era 42

Chapter 4 Lady Lindy's Flight to Eternity 53

Chapter 5 The Bandleader's Last Gig 67

Section II Lapses in Judgment

Chapter 6 The Night Camelot Ended 79

Chapter 7 The Death of a Butterfly 89

Chapter 8 The Day the Baron Flew Too Low 102

Chapter 9 A Madman's Journey to Nowhere 114

Chapter 10 The Congressmen Who Vanished 126

Section III Criminal and Other Politically Incorrect Behavior

Chapter 11 Mad Flight To Oblivion 137

Chapter 12 The Crime of the Century 148

Chapter 13 When The Skies Rained Terror 158

Chapter 14 Gone With The Wind 168

Chapter 15 A Plane That Fell in the Mountains 178

Section IV Into the Twilight Zone

Chapter 16 A Haunting Distraction 189

Chapter 17 Lost Lady of the Desert 196

Chapter 18 The Ghost Blimp of Daly City 210

Chapter 19 Fatal Rendezvous with A UFO 223

Chapter 20 The Curious Case of Flight 19 232

Epilogue: But Not Last 243

Bibliographical References 248

Index 255

Editorial Reviews

"The history of aviation is full of mysteries and legends, but the variety in Steven Ruffin's book will surprise even some long-time students of the genre. From a French balloon in 1785 to Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in 2014, the author addresses familiar topics such as the death of Manfred von Richthofen, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, and the "devil's triangle" mystery of the U.S. Navy's Flight 19. Most of the legendary tales are bound to remain unresolved, including D.B. Cooper's airliner hijacking in 1971, while famed band leader Glenn Miller's WW II disappearance is more plausibly explained. In all, an entertaining and informative anthology for buffs and historians alike." - Barrett Tillman, Author of Forgotten Fifteenth: the Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler's War Machine

"A well-researched collection of narratives about more than 20 aviation mysteries..." - Air Space Smithsonian

"Steve Ruffin's Flights of No Return is a fascinating page turner that will keep you riveted all the way to touchdown." - Aviation Week

"A well-researched collection of narratives about more than 20 aviation mysteries..."

—Air & Space Smithsonian

"... Steven Ruffin delivers the mother lode with this book."

—Aviation History

"Steve Ruffin's Flights of No Return is a fascinating page turner that will keep you riveted all the way to touchdown."

—Aviation Week

"The history of aviation is full of mysteries and legends, but the variety in Steven Ruffin's book will surprise even some long-time students of the genre. From a French balloon in 1785 to Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in 2014, the author addresses familiar topics such as the death of Manfred von Richthofen, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, and the "devil's triangle" mystery of the U.S. Navy's Flight 19. Most of the legendary tales are bound to remain unresolved, including D.B. Cooper's airliner hijacking in 1971, while famed band leader Glenn Miller's WW II disappearance is more plausibly explained. In all, an entertaining and informative anthology for buffs and historians alike."

—Barrett Tillman, Author of Forgotten Fifteenth: the Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler's War Machine

"... one of the really fascinating aviation reads in recent memory."

—In Flight USA Magazine

From the Publisher