No Visible Horizon: Surviving the World's Most Dangerous Sport

by Joshua Cooper Ramo

Book Overview

In a good year aerobatics is one of the most beautiful sports imaginable. Pilots pull through impossibly elegant figures at hundreds of miles an hour. In a bad year no sport kills more of its... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743229509
• ISBN13: 9780743229500
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Superb

Read this book in a weekend. Author is very intellectual and what results is a well-researched tightly written book. Excellent!

A fantastic read for pilots and non-pilots as well!

I grabbed this book at a local bookstore shortly before I was to begin my flying lessons, because it was one of about three books on aviation that wasn't either 100% graphical or absurdly technical. I found it to be very enjoyable all the way through, and very well written. It has an original and very appealing blend of personal narrative and personal perspective, retelling of other pilots' fabulous stories, and philosophical consideration of the matter at hand - aerobatic flying. Yes, as some other reviewers noted, the book is somewhat morbid. However, now that I've been flying for about 6 months and have personally witnessed my fair share of the carnage in the skies, even when not performing aerobatics. I think Ramo adequately and accurately portrays the danger element of flying (and especially aerobatic flying). However, through this, he makes his point: that the sport is indeed very dangerous, but that one knows a greater fulfillment of life after living life on the edge. This book is not excessively technical. You can read it without being a pilot, and you will enjoy it if you are a pilot. I read it before I was really a pilot, and I've read it again since, and I find every read to be as enjoyable as the first. This book is a must for anyone interested in flying, aerobatics, or even just the appeal of knowing your own personal capabilities barrier - and challenging it daily. I'd give this book 6 stars out of 5 if that was an option.

Aviation and adventure types will enjoy this book

I found this book browsing in the library-had not read or heard anything about it. I could not put it down once I started reading-but let me set some criteria first before one runs out and buys it. I agree with what the acro pilot from Colorado says, but I factored that in as I read it. I fly sailplanes in the Rockies, and this may be considered high-risk by some. The authors descriptions of why people participate in risk sports makes reading the book worth reading IMHO. If you enjoy reading of other's adventures, or try to figure out why you ski/windsurf/skydive/kayak/rock-climb/etc---READ THIS BOOK. And for aviation types, it offers that rare combination of excellent writing from someone who understands piloting. The description of pilots is priceless.

Surprisingly great

What an interesting, thoughtful, engaging book. It reminds me of The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I got this book from a pilot friend who recommended it as a great read even for people who aren't into flying or extreme sports, for that matter (I hate flying and he thought this might help a bit to see people do far more dangerous things in a plane than just take off, fly and land... it did help a bit). The author writes about what makes people fly upside down five feet from the ground at hundreds of miles per hour and his own struggles with life and why he feels the need to do such things. I love his descriptions of the people in the aerobatics world. What a cast of characters. It is almost an anthropology book... as it lets you peek into a world totally foreign to most of the planet. I loved this book and could barely put it down. The overly-technical stuff you can just skim if you aren't into it and get to the gems about his life, life and what makes people take risks. Great, great book.

this book puts the fear back in flying

I could not put this book down. I felt like I was flying the plane myself and I was terrified. This author has an incredible flair for adventure and his narrative was simply breathtaking. This is a great summer read if you don't have to go to work the next day because you will stay up all night reading it.It is a fabuolous explanation of why people who live on the edge are different from the rest of us. It was wonderful to pretend to be one of them through this fascinating account of flying straight down at 300 miles per hour and trusting that I would be able to pull out of it. You don't have to be a pilot to enjoy this book.