His To Fly

Jerry Tabor flies beside an aging biplane and an older partner who still rules by swagger, memory, and insult. Beak Becket was once a celebrated pilot, but now he is irritable, domineering, and determined to keep Jerry in his place as mechanic, errand boy, and student. Their partnership, strained by money, pride, and the brutal demands of barnstorming, erupts when Jerry finally demands a buyout and Beak counters with hard-eyed manipulation, trapping him in the journey north. What follows is a perilous flight through wind, distance, and failing daylight, with Jerry grudgingly admiring Beak's reckless mastery even as he sees how thin their safety really is. As fog closes over the river and the engine falters, Beak urges Jerry to jump. Jerry refuses, then makes a desperate bargain: he gives Beak the parachute and money in exchange for the plane, and takes command himself. Blindly guiding the ship through darkness, he fights instinct, fear, and the hidden hills until the plane crashes through a fence. Battered but alive, Jerry survives long enough to know he has earned the title of pilot, even as he mourns the man who did not land with him. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.