Born in 1905 and raised in Arkansas, Louise Thaden attended the University of Arkansas from 1921 to 1925 before moving to California, where she earned her pilot's certificate in 1927. Within the year, she had broken the women's world record for altitude and endurance. In 1929 she won the first Women's Air Derby, a transcontinental race. Over the next several years, Thaden continued to set records and win awards until 1938 when she retired to spend more time with her family and write these memoirs.

In a provocative and sometimes controversial style, this guide starts where standard-issue flight training manuals leave off, guiding readers deeply into topics that weren't taught in flight trainingNeverything from how to really do a preflight, through keeping passengers happy, scud running, precautionary landings, and how to survive a crash.