The Adventures of Tommy the Texan© and Captain Billy
Back to the Beginning
by
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Tommy the Texan and Captain Billy is a story of fiction that is reality- based. It is fiction in the sense that Tommy, a North American World War II T-6 Texan training aircraft, has been purchased and restored by Captain Billy and they have a friendship and adventures together.
As most pilots will agree, many of the aircraft that they have become familiar with and flown regularly begin to take on a personality all their own. We begin to be drawn to those we build a relationship with, those that have treated us well, and those with which we have had good flights and adventures.
Captain Billy found just such a relationship when he went to purchase Tommy, who he found neglected in a field in Phoenix Arizona. Tommy just seemed to talk to Billy. There was a “spirit” about that old neglected trainer aircraft. Tommy yearned to fly again, and Billy was looking for a friend to take on adventures during his retirement.
The area where Tommy lives now was once the authors home airport in Danbury, CT. The flights that they take together are actual flights that the author has taken during his career that encompasses some 45 years. The flights are real, the situations are real.
Tommy the Texan aims to be fun, yet educational, and engages the reader. In the back of the book are technical areas of the North American T-6 Texan pertaining to the book, with maps and charts over which the flight is flown. The book is meant to stimulate the mind and imagination, while taking them on a journey, learning about geography, flying and life.
During their time together, a special connection builds between a man and a machine. Tommy will make sure that nothing happens to Billy, and Billy will take good care of Tommy. Billy will converse with Tommy during their flights, and Tommy will connect with Billy. The “spirit” of Tommy, if you will, is the connection that develops between the two. The conversation only happens when the two are together, and sometimes without a word.
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About the Book
Tommy the Texan is an advanced training T-6 airplane who lives in an airport hangar in Danbury, Connecticut, and longs to fly again. When retired airplane pilot, Captain Billy, purchases him and begins rebuilding him, Tommy the Texan looks forward to Billy’s visits when he and his friends put on coffee and tell stories of great adventures in the big blue sky.
As a special connection builds between Tommy and Billy, the time arrives when Tommy is finally ready to fly. Not long after Billy climbs into the cockpit, starts Tommy’s engine, and taxis to the runway, man and machine soar to the sky where they begin making memories and Tommy finally has the chance to experience his own great adventures once again.
The Adventures of Tommy the Texan© and Captain Billy brings to life the warm relationship between a pilot and his plane as they experience the excitement and joys of flying together.
“… Captain Billy and Tommy the Texan are the dynamic duo that will inspire future generations to fly.”
—Erika Armstrong, ATP, Author of
A Chick in the Cockpit
About the Author
William “Captain Billy” Moyle started flying at age fourteen. Since then, he has nurtured his passion for flying and education, teaching aviation and flying aircraft from an Aeronca Champ to a Douglas DC-8. Now retired, he hopes his debut juvenile novel will both inspire and educate today’s youth in aviation and life.