| Back when airplanes were rolling
out of the factories in droves, they each ferried new ships to the
west coast and one to Santiago, Chile. The couple wrote
several aviation books including one on Burt Rutan and one titled
"Your Alaskan Flight Plan." Refugees from California, the Downies have lived for the past
eight years in Kingman, Arizona, a small town of 25,000 with a great
WW II airport where traffic is minimal and monthly tiedown for the
family Cessna Cardinal is only $10 per month. Recent advances in
telecommunications keep rural residents up-to-speed on worldwide
activities.
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Prior to Kingman, both resided in California--Don for almost his entire life. Julia started
out in Kansas City, Missouri and migrated to California in the late
'50s.
Don's recent full color illustrated coffee table book, "Flying
the Hump," is now in its second edition from Motorbooks
International. (The book was co-authored with the late Jeff Ethell
who did the photo layout and organization of Don's photos and
writing.) See your local book store or send $33 (which includes
shipping and handling) to Don Downie, indicating if you would like the book autographed. The book is basically a
recounting of the India-Burma-China lifeline of WW-II with well-
preserved Kodachrome photos as seen through the eyes of a pilot
(Don) who was there and made 84 round trips in C-46 transports. |
Looking to the north, east, west and south from our property, we can see mountains and lots of wide open space.
At night, toward the east we see the ribbon of traffic on I40--while overhead the stars shine
brightly in our smogless skies.
How much better can it get?
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