Fate is the Hunter
 

I've read Fate is the Hunter many time over the years, each time loving the familiar stories, each time finding something new in the writing and ideas. The thing is, I'm not a pilot. I’m just an ordinary Canadian guy who loves the book. I spent a career as a journalist at the CBC. Now, as an independent producer, I’m making a radio documentary about Fate is the Hunter and its author.

If you are a Gann fan, I’d love to hear from you. I’m trying to understand what it is about Fate that grabs readers and keeps them coming back.

It has been a while since I read it... so I'm going to cheat and provide you with this link: https://inspire.eaa.org/2018/02/14/f...is-the-hunter/

By the way, I was geeky enough to go and visit this particular DC-3 in Dallas' American Airlines C.R. Smith museum:
Gann flew this particular airframe, so standing behind the flight deck you are standing where Gann once stood.

It is a book I pick up, every now and then, just to read a chapter during an idle hour. Indeed, it would be my Desert Island book for the reason you note....always something new to find despite the well thumbed pages

Save his unsurpassed command of the English language, I think its the books brutal humility, honesty and deadly dry/gallows humour that shine through.

I visited friends on San Juan a few years ago and only then discovered that this idyllic spot is where he spent his last days, surrounded by the North Pacific waters and sailing boats, that were his true passion

If you think his flying books are good try the sailing ones!

Thanks for the cool picture and the link to your article.

I like its authenticity, what he writes comes from bitter experience - he has been there, done it, survived and he tells it without bull****ting. He knows that hubris has no part in safe flying, he is humble and knows how to describe what goes on inside a pilot's mind. Even though modern aircraft and engines are much safer and more reliable, the basic lessons for flying which he describes so eloquently have not changed. They are the same now as they were then - plan your every move, check and verify every thing you do and, despite better weather forcasting, the weather is still the same as it was then. The elements have not changed, they are as fickle as ever and must always be respected.

The five rules in Jhieminga's link above say it all.

It is a shame that the Films of EKG's books were never done very well - there is usually enough aviation content for us aviation enthusiasts (if only for a laugh sometimes).
The Film called Fate Is the Hunter is actually more akin to the EKG novel Band Of Brothers.
His book The High and The Mighty is a very impressive read but the film is nowhere near as good - John Wayne plays the older co pilot very well but the cabin scenes are straight out of Airplane :)

Island in the sky is an interesting film for us but probably a bit slow for the average punter.

Fate is the Hunter is definitely at the top of my reading list and I must dig it out again sometime - it has been a while LOL

Got this in my bookshelf alright, also got it as a Christmas present for my sister who is doing her ATPL.

My favorite chapter is the first chapter when describing Lester...on the whole I love, love, love FITH!

I've given the book as a gift too...in my case to a good friend whose father flew a Lancaster during the war and later became a commercial pilot.

His character sketches are brilliant - so vivid, often in just a few sentences.

Is there one Gann book in particular you would recommend?

The High and the Mighty is a really good read and the novel Twilight for the Gods or perhaps Song of the Sirens if you like sailing or boats.

Lake O’Conner
 

I flew a lot in Northern Qc / Labrador.
I think I know where Lake O’Conner is located. N 54 20 / W 74 30
I wonder if the tractor is still there.
A magazine called Air Classics did a story in the 80’s called “Rescue at Lake O’Connor” about the bush pilots who got the stranded crew out and salvaged the aircraft. I have never found a copy of the article. Direct queries to the publishers were never answered.
Are you on Facebook?

Whatever you do, don't lend it out! I've lost three copies over the years, despite promises to return them. :{ Gann was a great non-aviation fiction writer too; check his back catalogue.
Re classics, I've only lost one Chickenhawk (Robert Mason) so far. :)

It’s not my article… but you’re welcome. Personally I love any account of aviation from those days, but Gann’s version is one of the most vivid. You can almost see the characters he describes and the situations he was in. And, as has been mentioned already, he not only manages to describe the scene but also provides the lessons that he learned. Lessons that any pilot can appreciate and apply.

I book I find very good is “Stranger to the Ground” by Richard Bach. I recommend it to all.


https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sea...the+Ground&kn=

I enjoyed “Fate is the Hunter” will probably read it again since it’s been a decade or so since I read it. Another book worth mentioning is “Biplane” by Richard Bach.

Wrong messages
 

I found it very difficult to read. I loved the historical value of the stories, but bridled at the poor captaincy, the expectstion that your co-pilot is expected almost to be a mind-reader, to understand the captain's intentions without words. Its value as a pilot’s story was low for me. It felt dangerous as a message about running a flight deck

I think what makes FITH an enduring classic to pilots is that it is every pilot's story. From the opening pages that lists the names of all the pilots he knew who died being pilots to the end when he writes "when is now.." about his decision to put away his flight bag for good.

I first read it when I was a co-pilot on turbo-props and it resonated with me. The stories of doing crap landings and the Captain just brings it all under control with a deft hand that only experience can develop. I read it twenty years later when I was a Captain on jets and his stories of being the Captain just captured the essence of Command which also struck a chord.

Now that I am in the twilight of my career I am fortunate not to be flying clapped out freighters across the Pacific but I am ruminating on the line: "Ah Howe, you of the iron face...when is when?". The last line of the book is "For me, when was now. And Howe seemed to understand."

The equipment might have changed beyond EKG's recognition but the people and the career are still the same as when he wrote the book 60 years ago. Thats why it is such a classic..

Lookleft, You are absolutely right, that is what I meant in my post when I wrote about him being able to to describe what goes on inside a pilot's mind. But you said it better. Thank you.

Am a BIG FAN of EKG, and managed to find on G/E most of the locations mentioned in his book.....However, am unable to locate the airfield in India where he almost 'took out' the Taj Mahal.....

A thrilling description of the event, including the judicious use of flaps....I can 'feel the moment'.....but where oh where is / was this airport ?

Any takers?

I found 'Bluey West 1' OK....mostly because its still there..!!

Cheers, Griffo.

Wind Sand and Stars ,by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Great memoir of flying during the interwar years. Mail routes across the African Sahara and the South American Andes.

HI Griffo,
I'm sure the Taj Mahal is at Agra.

Jefford's book 'RAF Squadrons' has maps showing every airfield ever used by the RAF and it shows one at Agra which was apparently used by 20,30 and 114 Squadrons.

My copy of the history of 30 ( Flat Out ) has several photos of the airfield - none show the Taj Mahal unfortunately.

Brian

More accurate to say that the cabin scenes in Airplane are straight out of The High and the Mighty (and Airplane's direct source, Zero Hour, via the Airport films)
The film version of Fate is the Hunter did give us the interesting jet conversion of a DC-6....

EKG was appalled at the movie version of Fate is the Hunter.
I have given away many copies of Fate over the years.
I was amazed when I was recently gifted a first edition of Fate is the Hunter, complete including dust cover, in excellent condition. Lucky me!
When it comes to good reads I highly recommend “My Secret War” Richard S. Drury’s story of flying Skyraiders over the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Also “Ravens” about FAC pilots in Laos. “Thud Ridge” on the subject of flying F-105 bombers over North Vietnam is well worth the read.
In any case we must not forget the many works of Nevil Shute of which “Slide Rule”, “The Rainbow and the Rose”, “Pastoral” and “Trustee from the Tool Room” are my favourites.

Fate is the Hunter ..... the Bible!

I've got a First Edition, First Print and I'll never admit to anyone what I paid for it :-)

Griffo, VIAG is about 5 miles SW from the Taj Mahal, and has been around since WW2. The US Army Air Forces 3rd Air Depot Group operated out of there from 1942 - 1946. Haven't read the book, but will look for a copy.

Link here to an archived discussion about Gann and the Taj Mahal amongst other things. Quite an amount of debate about whether the runway at Agra was actually directly in line with the fabled building. https://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-328857.html

That passage about Howe, the beat up flight bag, and wondering when to call it a day was memorable for me too. I could relate to in my career.

I saw the movie version many, many years ago but have never read the book. I still remember the basic plot fairly clearly.
What did the movie get wrong?

Tdracer, every thing...the movie wasn't anything like the book very disappointing

One of the classics of aviation. By the end of the book you know nothing about him personally. Unusual for an author.
Don't see the film. I came in after the opening credits. Only on leaving did I see a poster naming the film. I hadn't recognised it. Complete hogwash.
Another classic of that era is Song of the Sky by Guy Murchie.
I gave my used copy as a wedding present to a new A320 pilot with only 300+ hours. Both he and his wife fly 320s. My comment was while flying has radically changed human nature and the laws of aerodynamics haven't changed.
My favourite part is where the Captain lit matches in front of his face. On landing said, "It won't always be easy."

Two other excellent books in the same genre are:

"Flying Through Midnight: A Pilot's Dramatic Story of His Secret Missions Over Laos During the Vietnam War" - flying C-123s at night, including an absolutely hair-raising description of a night emergency landing at the "nonexistent" CIA base at Long Tieng.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e8c573ea49.jpg



"Low Level Hell"- an account of Loach operations in Vietnam.

Thankyou to all who responded about Agra & the 'Taj'.....

I guess I will have to 'keep wondering', however, the book is still in my bookcase.

Cheers and Thanks again.

It resonates across the whole spectrum of aviation enthusiasts, from the hardened professional to people who would call themselves "SLF"

I've sourced and proudly gifted 3 copies to pilots upon receiving their first professional licence at the start of their careers - its their heritage in a way.

Fate is the hunter is magnificent and beautifully written.

Island in the sky is superb. The chapter where O'Connor is beginning to realise his plight is so vividly described that I rate it as probably one of the finest pieces of aviation prose you will ever find.

Twilight of the God's - what a lovely book. Always worth a read and always emotionally draining.

I finally found a first edition. Has pride of place on my bookshelf.

Gann, especially F.I.T.H. is essential reading for every young pilot. In fact I don't trust a newbie that hasn't read it, or is not interested in reading it. It shows up a lack of pedigree.

My Dad, an avid EKG fan took me to see FITH in the cinema, he was so disappointed and angry he ranted about it for days. It certainly was a travesty and only the title bore any relation to the book.

I was given “Fate is the Hunter” thirty years ago just now,at the dawn of my airline career, by a senior captain I flew with many times.
He didn’t say anything about the book but just put it in my crew mail with a brief message as to who had sent it.
I found it strange to read to begin with but as each chapter progressed, there was a lesson to be learned and a wow moment when I re-read what had happened.

Just over a year ago I recommended it to an airline colleague whilst in the US. He had never heard of Fate is the Hunter before
.
A day or so later and he was talking about it.

I love the reaction of guys when you see them a while later when they have read Fate is the Hunter and they say…’hey-remember that book you told me about last time we flew?’

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....379f24d35.jpeg
E K Gann on roof of house



As Gann said….”Rule books are paper, they will not cushion a sudden meeting of stone and metal.”

I love this story of receiving and giving FITH. It says so much about how cherished this memoir is.

I have given it as a gift too...in my case to a buddy whose dad flew in the RCAF during WW2.

Seniority System
 

iority System

Seniority System:.
Gann describes at length his pre-occupation with ‘the numbers’ – the airline seniority system in which one man’s fate may be determined over another’s. It’s a system which has nothing to do with either mens’ skills as pilots, or virtues as people. One number might be lucky, another might not. To Gann, the numbers being bad to you meant probable death, but they also represented less permanent changes in fortune. The numbers dictate your likelihood of promotion, or demotion, or of being fired. Today, nothing has changed. as people. One number might be lucky, another might not. To Gann, the numbers being bad to you meant probable death, but they also represented less permanent changes in fortune. The numbers dictate your likelihood of promotion, or demotion, or of being fired. Today, nothing has changed.