Buckle up and fly with Mike and Linda Street-Ely to discover amazing people, interesting places, and the conquest of flight. Since 2007, readers have enjoyed engaging articles weekly in the newspaper column, “Ely Air Lines.” Now you can step aboard to enjoy a collection of stories that explore the vast realm of the flyer’s world.
Mike Ely has logged thousands of hours over more than forty years as a professional pilot. He holds an airline transport pilot certificate with multiple type ratings and a flight instructor certificate. Mike has taught people to fly in small single engine airplanes, gliders, turboprops, and corporate jets. As a freight pilot and an international corporate pilot, he has flown through all kinds of weather, to many places, both exotic and boring. His love for writing was instilled by his father at an early age.
Linda Street-Ely is an award-winning, multi-genre author and playwright. She also holds an airline transport pilot certificate, a commercial seaplane certificate and a tailwheel endorsement. She has air raced all over the U.S., including four times in the historic all-women’s transcontinental Air Race Classic. Besides flying, Linda has a keen appreciation for great storytelling. She loves to travel the world, meet people, and learn about other cultures because she believes great stories are everywhere.
Together, Linda and Mike are “Team Ely,” five-time National Champions of the Sport Air Racing League, racing their Grumman Cheetah, named the “Elyminator,” and dubbed “The Fastest Cheetah in the Known Universe.” They live in Liberty, Texas.
Rating :★★★★★
Disclaimer: This review is solely my opinion. I was provided a copy of a finished book from Lone Star Literary Life partner in exchange for my honest review. The comments in this review do not reflect the views of the author or the publisher. The copies used in this review are finalized copies sent to me in exchange for my honest review. #partner #LSBBT
The authors, Mike and Linda take a unique approach to compiling stories from their column into a collection of books and making them available for public consumption. I thoroughly enjoyed the flow of the book and it was easily understandable for someone with no prior knowledge of aviation. I found the short stories both entertaining and engaging. I definitely enjoyed being able to gather knowledge in regards to the flights and get a first-hand read of some of the challenges pilots face when performing.
One of my favorite short stories in the book was “Pitts and Pumpkins.” I enjoyed reading about their participation in the Pumkin Chuckin contest. I laughed out loud reading this and thought to myself, “could I chuck a pumpkin out of a plane and hit a target on the ground,” the answer was no. This is just one of many stories in volume 2 of the collection of stories. Each story is unique in a sense where you, as a reader, are able to be captivated by the telling of factual events. There are many tales such as this one that are informative, entertaining, and heartwarming.
The flow between writers in each story allows for the reader to continuously get a different perspective of the retelling. There were many of these short stories that had me on the edge of my seating wishing they didn’t end. Be prepared to have your search engine open on your computer, you are definitely going to want to look up more information about some of the aircrafts listed. If you are a native Houstonian or live in Texas, you will especially enjoy the stories that involve that focus on Texas pilots. You will truly get that “everything is bigger in Texas” vibe from those reads.
If you are someone who is interested in personable, factual, and enticing aviation stories then I highly recommend this read. This book continued to have me engaged from start to finish. The short stories and column writing style allows for the reader to easily transition from story to story. I promise, at the end of this book, you are going to feel like an aviation enthusiast.
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Librariel Book Adventures 
Fantastic review! It sounds like the book has something for every reader to enjoy, whether they are aviation fanatics or not! Thanks for the post.
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