Landings in America

In the summer of 1987 automotive journalist Peter Egan gave in to his lifelong fascination with classic airplanes and pursued the third branch of his addiction to romantic modes of travel—namely, flying. Carrying only the barest essentials—a pup tent, a wad of cash, and a change of clothing—Peter and his wife Barb took off on a six-week, seven-thousand-mile trip around the US in their yellow 1945 J-3 Piper Cub. The places they stumbled upon and the people they encountered would change their lives forever. Between musings on being outpaced by the toy-sized eighteen-wheelers beneath their wings and flashbacks to nearly setting a Pulitzer Prize–winning author’s house on fire, Egan captures the essence of a modern pilgrimage.

Landings in America is Peter Egan’s homage to the enduring spirit of exploration that has defined his work. Punctuated with the witty repartee that his longtime readers have grown to revere, the story is equal parts travel adventure, memoir of post-Vietnam era America, and trek into personal reflections triggered by the places and names one couple encountered along their flight path.

Always in the background of their trip is the unspoken search for a new place to live, far away from the urban sprawl and crowded freeways of California, a possible rehearsal for someday flying home.