Island In The Sky by Ernest K. Gann

Ernest K. Gann was a civil aviation pioneer. His classic airline-in-distress novel The High and The Mighty and personal memoir of commercial flying Fate Is The Hunter were both made into hit films. Island In The Sky was based on a true story of a Corsair crew who are forced down in bitter cold, 600 miles north of the St. Lawrence. It's uncharted territory where radio, a compass and charts are no good. Made into a hit film starring John Wayne, this is a Man's book about survival, honour, and a brotherhood of men where things left unsaid are as well understood as things said.

Running cargo somewhere between Greenland and Labrador, Dooley and his crew encounter 40 degree below winter weather. Somehow the radio is inoperative, and the compass and sextant of no use in the dark. Running low on fuel, and having to reach out and scrape the ice off the windshield, they crash at the edge of a frozen lake. Back in Chapel Inlet and Victoria, other teams of Atlantic based cargo pilots gather under the guidance of Army Colonel Fuller to pour over near blank charts of land unmapped that far north. Forming a V-formation, a half dozen planes set out in rescue as every hour, every day, brings death closer. Dooley and his crew strip the plane of essentials and begin to work the emergency crank radio. Huddling for warmth, they try to survive the oncoming ice storm which will plague the rescuers.

This is a great survival story, told in a steadfast way. The men fly in harsh conditions and navigate using a sextant, relying on each others skills. Far from an emotional story (one woman makes a phone call, a waitress brings a drink - otherwise it is all male), emphasizing the bond flyers share having all long fought the same heavens. Much of the story deals with with frozen hydraulics and generators, blocked gas lines, instrument panels and systems that must be worked by hand, so if you are not mechanically minded, this isn't for you. A solid read all around, a well told account but noticeably without the emotional aspect that gives drama its highs and lows. A straight forward rescue against all odds.

1944 / Paperback / 173 pages