Eye of the Hurricane
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
PORT ST. JOE, FLORIDA. Saturday 5:45 PM, August 30, 1997.
'If you're going to go, you've got to do it now.' Harriet shook Tom's arm, mistaking his hesitation for fear. He felt a blast strike them from behind and silently cursed that he'd forgotten the wind would reverse its direction. Now, on top of everything else, they would have to make a downwind takeoff.
He ran the manifold pressure up to the red line, then quickly glanced at the fuel-flow indicator. The aircraft shuddered in the freshening wind, encouraging him to release the brakes. He pulled back on the the yoke to raise the nose wheel off the spongy ground when they had developed enough lift. The aircraft slowly accelerated, but when it would hit a puddle, it almost had to start all over again. As they neared the end of the cleared portion of the runway, Tom glanced at the airspeed indicator and saw it registering fifty knots, well below stall speed. He pulled back just when they hit a slight hump in the irregular runway, catapulting them into the air. Realizing he did not yet have flying speed, he gingerly lowered the nose until the wheels were mere inches above the detritus, littering the remaining runway. Desperate for more airspeed, he retracted the landing gear. Since the aircraft was still in ground-effect, the compression of air between the runway and the close-by wings prevented it from settling back to Earth. With the the drag of the landing gear eliminated, the airspeed slowly crept upward; once it reached 92 knots, the best angle of climb speed, Tom smoothly pulled up to avoid the trees at the end of the runway, then began an immediate turn to the north.
Birds of every description, having been trapped for days, circled within the eye. A flock of sea gulls came without warning, and suddenly the windscreen was covered with blood and feathers, the propeller having shredded one of them into harmless mush.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
The time is 1997 and a new President of the United States has just taken office. Iraqi agents are intent on getting revenge on the Head of State because of the leadership role he played in the Persian Gulf War.
Dr. Harriet Yancy becomes involved with former fighter pilot and Guld War veteran, Tom Horton. When she shares information about a fatal epidemic of botulism poisoning that she is grappling with, he combines this information with knowledge known only to himself and realizes the President, who is meeting with the Pope in Atlanta, is in immediate and grave danger.
A hurricane bearing down on their small, Gulf Coast town has already isolated and rendered them incommunicado; however, they must devise some way to spread the alarm. With time running out, they desperately battle the elements in a small plane, braving the storm's might in the breathtaking climax of Eye of the Hurricane.
About the Author
Dr. Dan Roper, a U.S. Air Force Academy and University of Texas Medical School graduate, received postgraduate training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His experience as a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, coupled with his possession of civilian instructor ratings in single and multi-engine aircraft provided the necessary insight to create an aviation adventure with a medical twist.
When not flying his Cessna Centurion to a mountain home in North Carolina, he practices ophthalmology in Fort Walton Beach, a Florida Panhandle community with considerable hurricane experience.