BAREFOOT IN THE SKY: An Autobiography by Sheila Scott

Astronaut Phil Chapman who wrote the introduction to this alone-above-the-clouds autobiography places Scott in the company of Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Saint-Exupery. Even though the heroic age of solo flying is largely past, Scott, blond, forty-five and British is swept up in the euphoric ecstasy of pitting her graceful skybirds against the elements: ""It is in the sky that I find myself and know who I really am."" Here she describes some of her most difficult and dangerous flights, including a near-disastrous England to Australia race where she heard voices on the radio transmitter reporting her death, and her most famous and challenging flight over the true North Pole in 1971, the first pilot -- let alone woman -- to have achieved this feat in a light aircraft. She also has three around-the-world flights and some 100 records to her credit, a lot of enthusiasm, quick reflexes and the ability to make split-second life-and-death decisions at the controls. Her book won't win any literary trophies, bur for those who get vicarious thrills from failed compasses, blinding snowstorms, fuel shortages and strange engine noises -- she soars.