I am anticipating a big announcement on my book, perhaps as early as next Friday. Stay tuned,
Today I am providing some background on the cover image for the book. I was wrestling with several different cover designs when I came upon a photograph of a Beechcraft C99 airliner parked on a ramp in front of a Boeing 727. I flashed back on the days flying for Mesa early on out of the old Denver Stapleton airport. I remembered the free-for-all when we taxied out for departure for runway 35L and how we had to make our way from the "bullpen" parking area by the A-plus commuter terminal to the runup lines at 35L. There were no taxiways, just a big open ramp with taxi lines and airplanes pushed back helter skelter creating a bit of an obstacle course on the way to the runway. We Mesa pilots didn't let a bit of chaos stop us from getting to where we needed to go, and we always seemed to find our way to the runup area unscathed. The photograph of the Beech C99 parked crossways in front of a 727 spurred a memory of making our way around United Airlines airplanes pushed back willy nilly on the ramp. I could just imagine the disapproval of the United crews as Mesa snuck around them.
I secured the rights from Stuart Jessup for the use of the Prince Edward Air C99 photo he had taken and worked with a very talented graphic designer named Muhamad Ali Maskur (not to be confused with the champion boxer). He created a cartoonish version from that photo representing a Mesa C99 sneaking around a B-727, wearing a big smile while being pierced by the glaring eyes of an aging 727.
Hey, it was the Mesa Way - the Way of the West.
Suart Jessup's photograph of a parked Prince Edward Air Beech C99 was the inspiration for the cover image of my book.
The Mesa C99 gleefully passing by unfazed by the glaring eyes of a B727.