This image is the cover for the book Life Inside the Dead Man's Curve

Life Inside the Dead Man's Curve

“A warm compassionate story of helicopters in rescue missions” (Igor Sikorsky Jr., aviation historian).

Travis County STAR Flight, in Austin, Texas, is recognized as one of the premier public-safety helicopter programs in the United States. Life Inside the Dead Man’s Curve is a firsthand account of the tragedy and triumph witnessed by STAR Flight crews as they respond to a myriad of emergencies, everything from traumatic injuries to rescues―and more. The author, Kevin McDonald, recounts how he turned his passion for flying into an extraordinary career filled with real-life twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. From his early days as a naval aviator, to his twenty years as a STAR Flight pilot, Kevin takes the reader on a powerful, emotional roller coaster ride. Even if you’re not an aviation enthusiast, you need to strap in for this read. This is more than a book about flying helicopters―it’s a book about life, life inside the dead man’s curve.

“A delightful, informative homage to a life of flight.” —Kirkus Reviews

Kevin McDonald, George Galdorisi

After earning a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Kevin McDonald was commissioned into the United States Navy in 1982. Two years later, he graduated at the top of his Navy flight-school class and spent the next eight years flying as a naval aviator, logging most of his time in helicopters.In 1992, during the drawdown that followed the First Gulf War, he left the Navy and became a public-safety pilot for Travis County STAR Flight in Austin, Texas. As a native Texan, Kevin was a perfect fit for STAR Flight; and his literary background made him the perfect person to document the tragedy and triumph he would witness from the cockpit of his helicopter. By the time his career ended in 2012, he had flown more missions, logged more hours, and completed more rescues than any pilot in the history of the program.

Morgan James Publishing