WA The Life of Soaring Legend Wally Scott

by: Samantha Hilbert Thomas

General Description

WA The Life of Soaring Legend Wally Scott - How far can one fly without an engine? Wallace Scott pushed that limit during his 36 years of soaring, setting four world records, winning the Lewin A. Barringer trophy for the longest free flight 20 times, by winning two Smirnoff Derby's and with his legendary 1970 dual 716.95 mile world record flight with Ben Greene.

Using extensive parts of Wally Scott's personal journals and his many Soaring Magazine articles, WA (Whiskey Alpha) is the story of ‘a John Wayne type of guy’ who pushed himself with every flight.

Wally Scott was part of the bank of pilots that made Odessa, TX into a famous soaring site and will always be remembered as the pioneer of soaring free distance – and as Boots’ husband.

   
Author Samantha Hilbert Thomas 
Dimensions 6.1″ x 9.2″ x 0.5″
Page Count 218 Pages
Language English

Table of Contents

• FOREWORD by Ben Greene
• PREFACE

Part 1 – THE FIRST LEG: 1924 – 1946

  • Chapter 1… Forever Plus Two Days
  • Chapter 2…First Came Dixie
  • Chapter 3…Hollywood Be Thy Name
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, February 4, 1985
  • Chapter 4…22 Short
  • Chapter 5…Foundations of Faith
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, February 20, 1995
  • Chapter 6…Bud, Barnstormers and Ballyhooing
  • Chapter 7…Second Natur
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, February 28, 1995
  • Chapter 8…WA – Whiskey Alpha
  • Chapter 9…The best Job in the Whole Wide World
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, March 14, 1995
  • Chapter 10…Chug–a–lugging
  • Chapter 11…The Scott Special
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, April 20, 1995
  • Chapter 12…The Almost P–38
  • Chapter 13…War and Bravado
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, June 25, 1995
  • Chapter 14…Dum Dum
  • Chapter 15…Chiang Kai–shek
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, August 5, 1995
  • Chapter 16…India Hogyah

PART 2 – THE SECOND LEG: 1946 – 1974

  • Chapter 17…We Meet for a Good Life
    Boots Scott Interview Odessa, TX June 16, 2005
  • Chapter 18…Sailplanes and Soaring
    Wallace Scott, Personal Journal, October, 1961
  • Chapter 19…Cross – Country
  • Chapter 20…Breaking the Distance
    Adapted from: Wallace Scott, “443.5 Miles by 1–26 N8606R” Soaring Magazine 1963
  • Chapter 21…Rooftop Tradition
  • Chapter 22…The Growing Expert
    Wallace Scott, Excerpt from a 1963 speech in Hobbs, NM
  • Chapter 23…Making Things Happen
  • Chapter 24…MOJO
  • Chapter 25…Soaring Game
    Adapted from: Wallace Scott, “the Preparation and Execution of Long–Distance Flight”, Soaring Magazine, June 1982
  • Chapter 26…Master of the Barringer
  • Chapter 27…The roughest Hours
    Adapted from; Wallace Scott, “The Second 500” Soaring Magazine, November 1967
  • Chapter 28…King Kong vs. the Big Bad BS–1
  • Chapter 29…Showdown over Gila Bend
    Adapted from: Douglas Lamnt's adaptation of Wallace Scott's account of his world record 605–mile goal distance flight, Soaring Magazine, January 1970
  • Chapter 30…The World Comes to Marfa
  • Chapter 31… Double Record
    Adapted from: Wallace Scott and Ben Greene, ‘The Big One’ Soaring Magazine, February 1971
  • Chapter 32… From Sea to Shining Sea

PART 3 – THE THIRD LEG: 1974–2004

  • Chapter 33… Matters of the Heart
  • Chapter 34… Hog the Days
  • Chapter 35… Suspend in Air and Space
  • Chapter 36… Attack on Aconcagua
    Adapted from: Wallace Scott and Guido Haymann, Soaring Magazine, May/June 1986
  • Chapter 37…Go Like Hell
    APPENDIX 203
    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 219

Forward by Ben Greene

When I stopped by Al Parker's soaring school at Odessa, Texas in the summer of 1962 to sample West Texas soaring, I did not imagine that it would be the beginning of a series of summers that would become the most enjoyable part of my soaring career. The hospitality of Wallace and Boots Scott, Re Wright and Al Parker, Combined with the West Texas soaring weather, soon made it apparent that this would not be a one–time visit.

The following summer found me back in Odessa with a Schleicher Ka–6 sailplane that proved to be a good performance match with my new friend Wally Scott's Schweizer 1–26. we began a series of friendly competitions, and, on days when we did not fly cross country, we flew locally, having last man down or shortest landing distance contests. I was impressed when I learned that Wally carried a recording barograph, on even our local flights, and that he analyzed the trace to determine how he could have improved his performance that day. Here was a man who was serious about improving his flying skills and, hence, his flight.

As our soaring skills improved, our friendship grew and, as the summers passed, I became the east–coast member of the Scott family, with visits in the evenings to Wally at the Scott Theater often preceded by a delightful meal prepared by Wally's wife Boots. Sailplane performance was improving dramatically with the advent of fiberglass construction, and Wally and I moved up periodically as newer models became available. The summer of 1970 arrived with both of us flying Schleicher ASWndash;12s, a German design with excellent performance for its time. Our world record flight that summer to Columbus, Nebraska was probably the highlight of my soaring career, But Wally, who tells the story of our flight in this book, went on to accomplish many outstanding distance flights in the years that followed. I remember him as a great friend, a fine soaring companion, and a superb pilot who confronted the challenges of flying sailplanes long distances and conquered them with skill an grace.

About Samantha Thomas

Samantha Thomas is a senior producer with a career that has comprised both broadcast television and commercial production in New York City. She has deftly produced branded content for luxury and prestige brands, overseen production on commercial spots, and produced feature and series content for network television.

Samantha's experience in broadcast production began at NBC Sports and Olympics working on Sunday Night Football, Football Night in America and The World of Adventure Sports. For her efforts at the Beijing and London Olympics, she received two Emmys for Outstanding Live Event Turnaround.

At Click 3X, Samantha has been crafting integrated content for global brands, a trait she developed over 3 years at PineRock Productions first as a Producer, then as Senior Producer. In addition to producing commercial content for brands such as American Express and Smithwicks, Samantha is part of Raison D'Être, Click's creative agency that specializes in fashion, beauty and lifestyle. As the Senior Producer for Raison D'Être she is part of a small team tasked with growing and developing the business and maintaining existing clients including Chanel, Estée Lauder, Giorgio Armani, L'Oreal, Make Up For Ever and YSL. Samantha is also the published author of WHISKEY ALPHA: The Life of Soaring Legend Wally Scott.

Born and raised in Telluride, Colorado, Samantha is an avid skier who loves the mountains almost as much as she loves the beach. She attended Tufts University where she met her husband Charlie. After 7 years in New York City, Samantha, Charlie and their Jack Russell, Riggins, now call Los Angeles home!


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