|
Post by Wes on May 21, 2017 22:03:17 GMT -5
The next book from Spearfish Lake Tales, Hearts of Gold, is now available from the Spearfish Lake Tales Reaching for Wings Store Page.Here's the synopsis: Continuing the Legend of Learjet Jenn: after landing a hijacked airliner, Jennlynn Swift, also known as "Learjet Jenn, The Fastest Woman in the State of Nevada," has become the nation's most famous prostitute despite never working more than very part-time at it. It's a reputation she does not like and isn't sure how to bury after she marries her long-time lover, Air Force Sergeant Will Hoffman. She would rather live as she sees herself: a pilot, engineer, and wife. Getting rid of her past isn't going to be easy to do and is complicated by the fact that Will is half a world away. What's more, she has come to realize that her experience is not how most prostitutes end up in the life and her perceived glory might lead young, impressionable women down paths they really shouldn't take. Is there some way she can repair some of the damage while she tries to make her own life a little more like normal?" People have been bugging me for years for a new Jennlynn story. Well, here it is! There are a total of twenty-four chapters. You can preorder Reaching for Wings for as little as $19.99 through the Spearfish Lake Tales Reaching for Wings Store Page.Preorders will be sent sometime on the afternoon of May 29, Eastern Daylight Time. Normally I would stay up late to acknowledge new orders. Not this time; it won't be until tomorrow afternoon. Sorry. It's a long story. -- Wes
|
|
|
Post by Boyd Percy on May 22, 2017 18:04:48 GMT -5
Wonderful!!!
Is that a Cessna 310B on the cover of the book, flown by both Sky King and Learjet Jenn?
|
|
|
Post by Wes on May 22, 2017 18:37:24 GMT -5
It's not a 310B, the tail configuration is different. It's a newer model, but I'm not sure which one. Sometimes I have to take what photos I can find.
|
|
|
Post by Boyd Percy on May 22, 2017 21:15:50 GMT -5
Rats!
If Mark Gravengood had bought a Cessna 310 instead of the 140, he could have carried the whole kitchen sink. Of course, he wasn't expecting to take a permanent passenger along for the ride.
|
|
|
Post by Wes on May 22, 2017 22:33:51 GMT -5
Yes, but Mark was doing it on a shoestring and the 140 was all he could afford. Plus, the 140 would be much cheaper to operate.
|
|
|
Post by Boyd Percy on May 23, 2017 0:58:50 GMT -5
I read that the USAF said in 1958 that the direct operational costs for the 310 was $12.00 an hour. Certainly too much for a young couple traveling on a shoestring for eight months. No telling what the operational costs for Jennlynn's planes would be. No wonder she needed an air charter business to afford them. I'm really looking forward to reading Hearts of Gold.
|
|
|
Post by Allen on May 23, 2017 19:33:57 GMT -5
It's not a 310B, the tail configuration is different. It's a newer model, but I'm not sure which one. Sometimes I have to take what photos I can find. It is a Cessna 310G from 1962 or later. The give away is the raked tip tanks, which were introduced on that model. Older models had vertical tip tanks that looked like they had been just stuck on as an after thought. Just search Google images with th various letters to see the variations, just be sure to check the actual photos details the search engine was a bit liberal in selecting the letter! To me, who never ever saw Skykings (due to it never beaning shown in this country, AFAIK)raked tip tanks have always been the quintessential Cessna twin look, beautiful aircraft all of them. Allen
|
|
|
Post by Norm on May 23, 2017 21:33:58 GMT -5
It will be good to meet Jen again. She is my all-time favourite character and I believe, the richest character you have ever written.
|
|
|
Post by Norm on May 23, 2017 22:07:25 GMT -5
It will be good to meet Jen again. She is my all-time favourite character and I believe, the richest character you have ever written. Haha, sorry for the bad ply on words! I meant richest in the literary sense, not the literal sense, 'tho' I guess the latter pertains too.
|
|
|
Post by Boyd Percy on May 24, 2017 0:20:38 GMT -5
Maybe the other Jennifer (Evachevski Walworth) might be richer.
|
|
|
Post by Ernest Bywater on May 25, 2017 23:18:11 GMT -5
To me the date of release is never right, because whatever day you say, I don't get it until the next day because you live in the past at GMT / UTC -5 while I live in GMT / UTC + 10 so you're always 15 hours in my past.
|
|
|
Post by carlton on May 26, 2017 15:27:00 GMT -5
$12.00 1958 is equal $101.18 2016
|
|
|
Post by Rob on May 26, 2017 16:28:24 GMT -5
$12.00 1958 is equal $101.18 2016 That would be if the cost only kept up with inflation. I did a google search and found a place (http://www.what2fly.com/manufacturer/operating_cost/CESSNA/310R+%2779/838) that quoted $212.84 as "variable cost per hour".
|
|
|
Post by Boyd Percy on May 26, 2017 18:04:42 GMT -5
I guess that owning and operating a private airplane isn't cheap in any sense of the word. I don't know if that Rob quotes includes the cost of training and experience needed to pilot the plane in the first place. Mark and later Jackie and Bree received a lot of their training while flying with a relative. If you remember that JennLynn said that she bought Magic Carpet originally because it was cheaper than paying for airplane rental fees while learning to fly.
|
|
|
Post by Jase on May 27, 2017 0:55:11 GMT -5
Boyd, depends a lot on what you're doing, and how you choose to do it. I own a 1941 Piper J-5A Cub Cruiser, a 3-place Cub. I bought it 15 years ago, needing to be reassembled. I ended up doing some Fabric repair and putting on a new (well, used) left horizontal and elevator, to fix the really crappy welding job some muppet had done. I also bought a new set (brand new) of wing attach struts, to permanently comply with an Airworthiness directive on the factory struts. In all, I have less than 20k USD in a really fun little airplane. It costs me not quite 3k annually for insurance, and about the same for hangar rent. I'm an A&P mechanic, so can do my own maintenance. Fuel consumption with the 90 horse engine that's on it now is 8-10 GPH, at $5/gallon, so figure 50-100/hour for all costs, if I fly it regularly. It's worth, if I sold it today, somewhere between 28-35k. I compare that to the costs of a buddy of mines boat. It cost him 35k to buy, his insurance is about 1000/year on the boat and trailer. Plus, he has to have a mechanic do almost everything (since he hates pulling wrenches). His fuel consumption is about on a par with the Cub, plus the cost of a larger truck to pull the boat and trailer around. All in all, yes, aviation is a more expensive hobby than stamp collecting (maybe ), but not outrageously so. It comes down to what's important to you, and what you're willing to pay for recreation. I don't drink, or do the bar scene, don't go to sporting events, have an expensive cable bill, and so on. Others do, and that's fine for them. I try to repeat this whenever I can, because it seems that so many folks have the idea that aviation is only for the rich man, when that's not at all the case. Yes indeed, if you're LearJet Jenn, you can spend a pile of dough on fueling your Lear... Or Tom Cruise and his P-51 Mustang, or Travolta and his 707 and formerly his Lockheed Constellation (now THERE is a fuel burner, 4 engines each burning 125 gallons/hour in cruise!!!!!) But for the rest of us "working folks", it's really no more expensive than other hobbies may be. I know when I had a drag car in my teens and early 20's, almost 30 years ago, I spent a LOT more annually on its rather ravenous needs than I do now on the Cub.... Best Jase
|
|