No one else ever took a trip like this. Nearly 600 trips, actually. "But who cares," I thought, when first approached to edit the manuscript for this book ..". about flying into every little airport in Indiana, then moving on to those in surrounding states?" Pilots? Perhaps. Even so ... I'm a writer, not a pilot. And Bob Hechlinski is a pilot - not a writer. Except ... Bob has an insatiable curiosity about people, places, events, you name it. To him, an airport is more than a name or a spot on a map. He's a great listener. He has ears and eyes for detail - "nuggets" that many people either overlook or don't connect with other nuggets like dots on a page, to create picture after picture after picture. And Bob has a gift for gab. "Storytelling," if you will. So if you believe (as I do) that "writing is talking when you can't be there," give this book a listen. Hear things you never knew about John Dillinger, Al Capone, a WWII pilot named O'Hare ... back-road encounters on Mackinac Island and not flying under the bridge ... out-maneuvering storm clouds ... the Oshkosh air show ... close-knit neighborhoods with hangar-garages ... airports in Ohio ... police in Gary, Indiana ... the link between Northwestern University and a historic Lake Michigan passenger-ferry tragedy ... how a teenager's Happy Birthday flight launched a career ... and more. Much more. Some people read books from page 1; the opening line hooks them. Others check the ending first. ("If I like how it ends, I'll like getting there.") With 'Honey, ' feel free to start in the middle; pick a page - any page. Chances are, you will quickly be drawn in and pulled onward from one mini-tale to the next. And at some point, you'll say "Geez, let's go back and read the rest " I did. C'mon along for the ride. Bob makes even the shortest hop a fun trip. Richard E. Schingoethe

No one else ever took a trip like this. Nearly 600 trips, actually. "But who cares," I thought, when first approached to edit the manuscript for this book ..". about flying into every little airport in Indiana, then moving on to those in surrounding states?" Pilots? Perhaps. Even so ... I'm a writer, not a pilot. And Bob Hechlinski is a pilot - not a writer. Except ... Bob has an insatiable curiosity about people, places, events, you name it. To him, an airport is more than a name or a spot on a map. He's a great listener. He has ears and eyes for detail - "nuggets" that many people either overlook or don't connect with other nuggets like dots on a page, to create picture after picture after picture. And Bob has a gift for gab. "Storytelling," if you will. So if you believe (as I do) that "writing is talking when you can't be there," give this book a listen. Hear things you never knew about John Dillinger, Al Capone, a WWII pilot named O'Hare ... back-road encounters on Mackinac Island and not flying under the bridge ... out-maneuvering storm clouds ... the Oshkosh air show ... close-knit neighborhoods with hangar-garages ... airports in Ohio ... police in Gary, Indiana ... the link between Northwestern University and a historic Lake Michigan passenger-ferry tragedy ... how a teenager's Happy Birthday flight launched a career ... and more. Much more. Some people read books from page 1; the opening line hooks them. Others check the ending first. ("If I like how it ends, I'll like getting there.") With 'Honey, ' feel free to start in the middle; pick a page - any page. Chances are, you will quickly be drawn in and pulled onward from one mini-tale to the next. And at some point, you'll say "Geez, let's go back and read the rest " I did. C'mon along for the ride. Bob makes even the shortest hop a fun trip. Richard E. Schingoethe