Book excerpt: This first-hand account of early aviation days includes the beginning of air mail service in the United States. It also includes stories about air pioneers and their training and exploits, as well as authentic accounts of the women who were aviation enthusiasts and, in some cases, pilots themselves. The author points out that these women played a vital part in early aviation history. "Publishers Weekly" reported: "Culver's late husband, Paul, one of the country's earliest pilots, was a member of the team that carried the first bags of air mail. Here his wife recalls those days when to be a pilot was to court death and when marriage to a pilot presumed early widowhood."