ONE PILOT'S LOG: THE CAREER OF E.L. "SLONNIE" SLONIGER. by Sloniger, Jerrold E - 1997

Charlottesville, Virginia: Howell, 1997. 192 pp, oblong 8vo (8 3/4" H x 11 1/4" D). B&w photographs. "From the days of landing in open corn fields with the wind at his face to blind insturment landings in a snowstorm, E.L. "Slonnie" Sloniger was behind the controls of an airplane, open cockpit or closed. Slonnie looped the loop over Nebraska, averted bandits to deliver payrolls in Mexico, and served as an aviation ambassador, inaugurating commercial flight in China. As a pursuit pilot , barnstormer, racer, test pilot, acrobatic pilot, and, ultimately, a commercial pilot, Slonnie grew with aviation. Slonnie learned to fly when he entered the heavier-than-air division of the army, because he 'just didn't want to walk', and served in the Air Service in WWI. Upon his return to the U.S., Slonnie bought his own plane, a Curtiss JN-4 'Canuck', and became a barnstormer, selling rides in small towns across the Middle Western plains. He flew for early airlines when the biggest customer was the U.S. mail and saw the beginnings of the major lines; Slonnie was the original senior pilot, Number One, for American Airlines and flew for them for twenty years. In his career he accumulated nearly 25,000 flying hours - a number matched by only a handful of his peers. (This) is Slonnie's story as told to his son during the last years of his life. Slonnie's words together with the Sloniger family's extensive photograph collection recall the details of the career of a true aviation pioneer, a pilot's pilot, during an exhilarating period in American aviation history." Very small bump at top edge of front board, several areas of light to moderate edge rubbing on boards. Dust jacket has light edge wrinkling - mainly at top of spine area.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.