Written in 1960, The Crowded Sky is a novel of aviation, in the same style as Arthur Hailey's Airport, for those interested in the technicalities of air travel. "The airway is not a highway, but an invisible alley, sometimes of infinite height..."
"Cleared to Vector One-five-one-eight"
Commander Dale Heath is a Navy pilot eastbound to Washington, transporting a young Navy seaman in the two-seater jet. The radio has been causing trouble, but seems ok as he double checks altitude and flight vectors with ground control.
Mike Ruble is co-pilot to seasoned captain Dick Barnett on national airline Pacific Central. The DC-7 has full autopilot capabilities, but Barnett tends trust his instrument skills as they soar through stormy turbulence. Kitty is the reliable but lonely stewardess taking care of the passengers, which include a doctor and his wife - whom he agonizes telling her cancer has returned.
A network of ground air traffic control relay stations track the vertical and horizontal ballet of aircraft, maintaining their altitude and speed. Norm Coster at Amarillo Center keeps one distracted eye on the large wall board, covered in paper strips detailing the flight particulars - and one ear to the phone, his wife is due to have a baby that night.
Throughout one fateful night, the Navy jet with a faulty radio will fly blind, the traffic centre unaware and then powerless to control the outcome, and the passenger filled Pacific Central flight07 at the incorrect altitude, will cause tragedy and the radio to come alive with cries of Mayday! at 20,000 feet.
Not as exciting as it may sound, this novel is very heavy on flight plans, vector paths, and the technical aspects of flying, rather than emotion or heart. ("Maintain one-four-thousand via flight plan route. Marine Three-four-two-four three: Position report. Over). Each character has a back story: Mike was a pilot in Korea and left his family business to be a pilot, Norm is about to be a father, the doctor's wife wonders why her husband will not talk about her cancer, and most extensively, Dale's marriage has broken up over lies and cheating. They all take turns ruminating for about 240 pages, until there is some action in the last chapter.
You may have read this all before, and the only ground Searls adds is the mechanics of flying. This theme was more successful by Arthur Hailey, and even Ernest K. Gann's The High and The Mighty, whereas this highlights the writer is a technical advisor. Hank Searls was a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve, and technical editor for Hughes Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft. There are four pages of glossary at the end detailing terms used by the ATC and pilots.
Modern aircraft automation, I am sure, has made a lot of these flight skills redundant, but this was an interesting curio from 1960. Of interest to aviators or those who appreciate the technical side of flying machines.
The Crowded Sky was filmed in 1960 starring Dana Andrews, Anne Francis, and Rhonda Fleming
Other aircraft novels I have reviewed:
1960 / Paperback / 256 pages
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