Pilots, Pinballs, and Politics

Download or read book Pilots, Pinballs, and Politics written by Nancy McEntee and published by . This book was released on 2019-02-06 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: President Roosevelt was getting ready to enter WWII. He needed more airfields, more planes, more pilots. In Florida, by 1941, military airfields were being built hurriedly. In Naples, Florida plans were made to build a sub-base to the larger Buckingham Field in Ft. Myers. Thus began the evolution of Southwest Florida's aviation history. From a small yet essential airfield to today;s hubbub of jet liners and Cessnas, Pilots, Pinballs, and Politics covers the politics of the City, the famous P-39s also called Pinballs, and the pilots that took off on training missions, and the ones that never returned. This book is for the history buff, the aviation lover or the person trying to understand local politics. Learn about the tragedies and triumphs as the airfield became the center for the military training of WWII gunners. Understand the influence of present day aviation on the people who work and fly around Southwest Florida. Featured in a PBS documentary on WWII aviation, the story adds to the historical conversation about warbirds and their crews.