Aviation exploded in 1927. First, there was Charles Lindbergh. Immediately after his solo flight to Paris in May, pilots from around the world attempted record breaking flights. In this book, the reader will become acquainted with a myriad of brave and ambitious adventurers. They include: Charles Nungesser, the WWI flying ace who painted a coffin on his plane and called himself the "Knight of Death;" Dick Grace, the "broken neck" pilot who crashed airplanes for a living; Ruth Elder (inset) a beautiful Hollywood starlet; Richard Byrd, the explorer; Anne of Lowenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, a genuine 63-year old princess; Charles Levine, the millionaire "junkman"; and Frances Grayson, who carried a handgun in her purse to "encourage" her pilot not to turn back. Some, like Lindbergh, are still lauded and remembered. Others, especially those that failed in the quest for fame and glory have largely been forgotten. This book brings those courageous and sometimes foolish aviators back to life. All in all, 1927 was a "brilliant" year in aviation.

Nearly everyone is familiar with Amelia Earhart. But very few know the story of another woman aviator, who, until now has remained little more than than a footnote in aviation history - that is, until now. Shooting Star tells the story of Mildred Doran, who, in 1927 set her sights on becoming the first woman to fly from the West Coast of the United States to Hawaii, a distance of 2,400 miles. She was a participant in the Dole Transpacific Air Race which, promised fame and fortune to the first aviator to land at Honolulu from Oakland, California. This is her story.