Fly Yellow Side Up

Jerry A. Dykman is a lawyer in Morden, Manitoba.

This is a funny, lighthearted, and instructive story about a young
man’s first summer as a bush pilot, flying float planes out of
Georgian Bay, Ontario, for a small commercial airline.

The book is divided into 41 short chapters, each an anecdote, taking
off and landing in three to four pages. The primary description is given
to the maneuverability of individual airplanes, with pilots and
passengers providing the human interest and comic relief.

Wallace describes the passengers in an entertaining way, with good
color and character portrayal. We meet dour licence inspectors, lonely
spinsters, burly entrepreneurs, jovial fellow pilots, and an
understanding newly wed wife. We learn what goes on behind the otherwise
romantic scenes in the bush plane business: the meagre pay, the hazards
of weather and water, the spartan interiors of the craft, and the
unemployment during winter. This small air service is close to
civilization, and caters to tourists, hunters, and fishermen; it does
not fly “where no one has flown before” in the uninhabited north.
However, one does discover new territory if one is unfamiliar with
aviation.