GONE FLYIN' is a book full of stories with happy endings, written by an old pilot who can find splendor and inspiration amidst a winter storm or a summer sunset. It is not a stiff discourse on how we fly, rather it is a celebration of all the reasons why we fly.

These stories are selected from years of columns that have been published in a hometown newspaper; columns which have become local favorites because they are centered in the common ground that is shared by pilots and non-fliers alike. They are stories of flying... without the hype and the tech, but with the beauty still intact. They are stories which capture the exhilaration which pilots often experience but seldom verbalize.

The book pokes a hole in the fence that separates the airport from the rest of the world, and lets everyone have a chance to be the "airport kid" of days gone by. They can enter, look around, and feel the excitement of airplanes coming and going. They can watch the grass ripple in the breeze of a sunny day, and they can get answers to the inevitable question of "what's it really like up there?

Much like James Herriot's All Things Bright and Beautiful books of the 1980s, Gone Flyin' offers an introspective look at a small corner of the world through a contented pair of eyes. Pilots enjoy this book because it reminds them of the reasons that they fly. Non-fliers enjoy this book because they are able to identify with the simple splendors and satisfaction which can be plucked from almost any day.

Bob Tilden was a grass-field flight instructor and airplane mechanic for many years. He presently flies a nightly freight run in a Cessna Caravan and also enjoys chugging along low and slow in his 1946 Commonwealth. The Gone Flyin' stories are drawn from all of these experiences.

Other stories quite similar to the stories in the book may be read at bobtilden.com. if you like these stories, you will like the stories in Gone Flyin'!