Whitman Mystery Stories - Patty O'Neal on the Airways

This was a Whitman title I had never heard of before, so when I chanced upon it in DJ at a used bookstore, I went ahead a picked it up.  I've been discovering, much to my surprise, just how enjoyable these Whitman books are (even if they were published on inferior paper and rarely had any ongoing series characters, unless they were reprints of other publishers' works), so I figured this book was worth a couple of bucks.  Besides, based on the title and description, I thought perhaps the story would be similar to the Vicki Barr or Shirley Flight series (which featured stories about stewardesses who traveled the world having adventures and solving mysteries).

Patty O'Neal on the Airways is another Whitman title written by Ruby Lorraine Radford.  I have several Whitman titles written by her (Peggy Parker, Girl Inventory; Kitty Carter, Canteen Girl; Nancy Dale, Army Nurse), and the one that I have read (Peggy Parker) was very well written.  Thus, I had pretty high hopes for this one, and I was not disappointed.  While there was no real mystery, per se - other than perhaps the question of what happened to Patty's friend, John Nash, whose plane went down over the Himalayas and he has not been found since - the story is still engaging with a certain level of suspense and danger to it.

Radford opens the story with Patty getting ready to take her first solo flight.  She and her best friend, Ann Marsh, attend Carter College, where they are aviation students.  Also attending the school is another student by the name of Joan Sumerau, who is the "Nellie Olsen" of the book (and if you don't know who that is, go watch an episode of Little House on the Prairie!).  She is always berating and belittling Patty, to the point where she breaks down any self-confidence Patty has, which ultimately causes her to crash her plane, leaving her only slightly injured but very badly shaken.  While at home recovering, Patty begins to wonder if perhaps she should give up her dream of piloting a plane.

And then along comes Dal Warner...

Yes, Radford had to include a love interest, and it turns out Dal is a pretty experienced pilot.  He unexpectedly shows up flying a new commercial jet liner, and Patty gets a first class tour of the large plane.  While in town, Patty shares her feelings with Dal, and he convinces her not to give up on her dreams, but take a different path - become a stewardess first, and then once she regains her confidence, go back to obtain her pilot's license.  Patty takes him up on this idea, flying out to the West Coast to attend classes - and wouldn't you know it, Joan Sumerau (who was kicked out of Carter College for showing off and endangering herself and others) is at the very same training center, hoping to become a stewardess.  It seems Miss Sumerau has her eyes set on becoming a stewardess on Dal Warner's team - but Dal already has Patty set for the job, much to Joan's chagrin.

It is interesting to read about how stewardesses were supposedly picked for airlines back in the '40s, when this book was published.  "A stewardess has to promise she'll serve a year without marrying before they will train her," Patty is told (p. 118).  And Belton Airlines, the company Dal flies for, "is famous for its attractive stewardesses," so Patty is told she has to submit photos of herself - close up and full length, too (p. 124).  There is also an age requirement - between 21 and 26 (p. 124) - and a weight requirement of at least 100 pounds (p. 126), as well as a height requirement of 5' to 5'5" (p. 127).    Curious, I did some online searching, and I discovered that a number of ads from back in the '40s and '50s were indeed looking for these exact characteristics for their airline stewardesses - including the "attractive" part!  Talk about sexism at its worst!  But, that was all a part of the day, and thankfully, we have grown past that in today's society.

The description of the plane Patty serves on that flies over the Pacific is also rather interesting, as it is described as having an "observation lounge" (p. 170), and when passengers get restless, Patty and the other stewardess pass out decks of cards, checkerboards, and other games to keep them busy (p. 166). I was also surprised to read that when Patty woke up in the morning (the flight took several days), she "bathed and put on a fresh uniform" (p. 174).  I wasn't sure if this meant she actually bathed in a bathtub or shower, or simply used a sink to wash her face - I've never heard of an airplane having a full bath or shower in it, so I'm going to assume Radford simply meant Patty "washed up," as the saying goes.

 

There are a number of internal illustrations, by Henry E. Vallely, who seems to have illustrated a number of Whitman books (as I have seen his name in many of the books I have in my collection).  While his backgrounds are never overly detailed, I will say that his people are very nicely drawn - he captures expressions beautifully!  The joy on Patty's face (p. 125); the sadness of the missionary's wife (p. 167); the solemn seriousness of everyone as Dal points out a dangerous route to be taken (p. 195) - you can actually FEEL what the characters are feeling in each illustration.  Not every artist can capture that, but Vallely does it magnificently.

The book has a rather dramatic climax, as the crew of the passenger plane all take ill due to food poisoning (all I could think of was Peter Graves in Airplane!), and Patty is forced to call upon her days of training as a pilot to take over the huge commercial airliner and maneuver the plane through heavy clouds and around and over dangerous mountain peaks.  But, manage it she does, and she even lands the plane like a pro, something she has always had the most difficulty with.  And it's "all's well that ends well" with this story, as Patty regains her confidence and set out to get her commercial flying license!

While the mystery side of things was extremely light, the story was still enjoyable, and Radford creates some great tension and suspense there at the end, keeping the reader turning page after page to see whether Patty will succeed in getting the plane out of danger and back onto the ground.  And, oh, yes, the mystery about the poor missing John Nash is resolved as well, so no plot threads are left dangling.

RATING:  8 plates of good almond chicken out of 10 for preserving a bit of women's history in the aviation history with a dash of fiction and a just a hint of mystery!