Greetings Loyal Airmen, we are really excited this week to announce the release of what we consider to be the finest book ever written on the history of the Green Hornet.  Several years ago, while attending a pulp convention, Ye Old Air Chief had the good pleasure of meeting Martin Grams,Jr.  Martin is pop-culture writer/historian who has written several award winning books on many popular subjects such the classic TV show, THE TWILIGHT ZONE and others focusing on old time radio.  When Martin heard that I had helped bring the Green Hornet back to comics with series for Now Comics back in the 80s, he informed me that he and his partner, Terry Salomonson, were putting together the definitive book on the that character.  Now, several years later, they've finished the job and we are here to tell you Martin was true to his word.

This book contains the behind the scenes story of how the Green Hornet was created by radio manager, George W.Trendel for his station, WXYZ out of Detroit in the early 30s.  It features a complete episode guide and actors lists of all the radio plays ever produced, a chapter synopsis of both Universal cliffhanger serials, The Green Hornet (1940) and the Green Hornet Strikes Again (1941), another listing of all 26 episodes of the Green Hornet 60s TV series with Van Williams and Bruce Lee and several extensive articles on the many Green Hornet comics, one written by Ye Old Air Chief detailing the Now Comics series.  The book is over 800 pages long and filled some great black and white photos.  It is truly the most exhaustive history of the character ever put together and Ye Old Air Chief is honored to be a small part of it.  You can order a copy either at Amazon.com or go directly to Martin's website at (www.MartinGrams.com) and buy it from him.  If you go that route, be sure to ask him to autograph it for you.  Our copy arrived in the mail yesterday and we've already spend several hours browsing through it's many terrific chapters.  This is a book we are going to enjoy for years to come.

             
                     Pencils by Rob Davis
While on the current comics front, we've more exciting news.  Rob Davis and Ye Old Air Chief are in the last stages of collecting The Boston Bombers, a pulp-inspired six issue mini series Ye Old Air Chief wrote long-long ago for Caliber Press.  Now, after all these years, all the art has been put together in a 172 pg. graphic novel that we will soon be self-publishing via Rob's Redbud Studio, the same banner under which we did our Daughter of Dracula graphic novel and our currently running Mr.Jigsaw series.  To do this up right, Rob has drawn a brand new cover for the collection and the pencils are displayed here.  We're going to hold off showing all of you Loyal Airmen the finished piece until the book itself is available for sale.  Happily our goal was to have it out in time to have copies with us at this year's Windy City Pulp & Paper Con in Chicago, and that is now possible.  We will have a stack of The Boston Bombers on our table there, along with over twelve Airship 27 Production pulp titles.  So if you are hoping to join us at the show, save those pennies.

          
A few weeks ago, we reported having done some radio ads promoting the Wentworth Home, the senior facility where Mom resides. Well, after taping that spot, the ad people had a photographer on hand and he snapped the photo above with intent of running a con-current newspaper campaign.  This is how it came out.  We thought you'd get a kick out of seeing it.

And finally, we're going to wrap up this week's Flight Log with applauding the writers and actors of our favorite TV series, LOST.  For the past five years, this show has entertained us with its smart, original and thought provoking stories.  Now in its final season, as it races swiftly towards a two-hour finale arriving in nine more weeks, the episodes have been fantastic and again, the action superb.  LOST is by far the best written show ever produced for television and we are truly going to miss it when it is gone.  But till then, Ye Old Air Chief, and the millions of other LOST fanatics are enjoying one hell of a ride.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, well last week we missed our deadline because of the power outage caused by the severe wind and rain storm that hit us here in New England.  This past week has been no less hectic, what with getting out our newest pulp title, applauding the return of Spring Training for the Red Sox and a long night in the hospital emergency room.  We'll start with the more serious first.

Valerie's mother, Lorraine, who resides with us, had open heart surgery five years ago. Shortly after, while in recovery, she suffered what is called Congestive Heart Failure.  This is a condition in which a problem with the structure or function of the heart impairs its ability to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body's need.  Symptoms include a shortness of breath (typically worse when lying flat, which is called ortopnea), coughing, ankle swelling and exercise intolerance.  Got all that?  Earlier this week Lorraine started coming down with what we all thought was a cold. Val took her to see her doctor who thought she might be suffering bronchial pneumonia and had X-rays taken, which came back negative on that front.  Heart failure is often undiagnosed due to a lack of universally agreed definition and challenges in definitive diagnosis.  When the antibiotic the doctor prescribed seem completely ineffective after several days and Lorraine's condition continued to deteriorate, Valerie finally made the decision to get her to the hospital emergency room.  Thank God she did, as shortly after getting her there last night, the on-call doctor properly recognized that she was indeed suffering Congestive Heart Failure.  Sadly it would take almost another five six hours before she was fully admitted and being treated.  We drove home at 4 AM in the morning. 

We are happy to report that she is doing much better today, although still in the woods in regards to her coughing and weakness.  But the proper regiment is alleviating the symptoms one by one and we truly hope that within a few days she'll be well enough to come home.  Lorraine is in her 80s and these incidents are scary, but she is also a very determined soul who never quits, and thus remains an inspiration to all of us in the family. 

                  
As of tomorrow morning, Friday 5th, our second Airship 27 Production pulp title of the year is officially available for sale.  It is the revised edition of CAPTAIN HAZZARD – CITADEL OF FEAR by Ye Old Air Chief and his good friend and colleague, Martin Powell.  Written several years ago, this book was first released by another publisher and has since been out of print.  Many of you Loyal Airmen have clamored for us to make it available and we were only too happy to do so.  This new edition sports a brand new painted cover by the sensational Laura Givens.  This is her first effort for Airship 27 Productions and we truly hope it's not her last.  You can purchase a copy at our on-line store by clicking on our dirigible logo to the left of this column.  Within a another week or so, as always, the book will be available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all the other well book sellers. We hope you'll give it a look and as always, thanks so much for your continued support.

          
                  Second Baseman Dustin Pedroia Swings Away

And finally, the Red Sox got their Spring Training underway in Ft.Myers, Florida this week with two training games; one against Northeastern University and the other against Boston College.  The second was televised and we were delighted to sit back and hear that familiar cry of  PLAY BALL again.  Nothing clears away the winter blues like those two words.  The Sox look to have a really strong and balanced team this year and as ever we are rooting for them to go all the way.

That's it for this week, Loyal Airmen.  Take care, stay healthy and read a good book, it's a healthy thing to do for your mind.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen. Well almost twenty-fours ago the rain and wind storm that hit our part of New England knocked down trees everywhere, some taking down power-lines in the process.  So that at 10 PM on Thursday evening we lost our electricity.  Twenty-three hours without heat or lights.  Funny the things we all take for granted until they are taken away from us.  Power came back on about thirty minutes and ago we  just now starting to get things back to normal.  Sorry we missed our morning posting. 

This week Ye Old Air Chief wants to recommend a few new things we've come enjoy.  The first is a relatively new web comic strip called ORION – THE HUNTER produced by Arctos Comics, Cliff von Meter is the writer and brains behind this truly fun space opera.  They post a new page once a week and currently are up to page 12.  Orion is an interstellar Marshal and clearly one tough hombre.  Both story and art are of the highest quality and I look forward to each new page.  (http://arctoscomics.com/)  We think you will to.  Check it out and tell them the Air Chief sent you.

             
Our second recommendation this week is for Warner Bros. Animation's latest DC DVD movie, JUSTICE LEAGUE – Crisis On Two Earths.  It is another Bruce Timm production and we have been mega fans of his work ever since he spearheaded the rebirth of great action animation with The Adventures of Batman years ago.
This particular movie deals with the JLA traveling to an alternate world to help free it from an organization of super villains called The Crime Syndicate that are their evil counterparts.  The animation is fantastic as is the story, that packs a wallop in both action and drama.  Ye Old Air Chief gives this major thumbs up.

Lastly we wish to offer our heartfelt congratulations to this year's Winter Olympic Team USA.  From what we've been able to see, and applaud, these young men and women have done a great job in not only winning their share of medals, but also in representing us with distinction, character and exemplary fair play. All Americans should feel proud of these athletes.  Medals or not, all of them are winners in our eyes.  Bravo!!!

Ron – Over & Out. 

Greetings Loyal Airmen, well yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the official start of Lent for Catholic Christians around the world.  In forty days it will be Easter. Another sure sign that Spring is on its way is the start of Spring Training down at the Red Sox camp in Ft.Meyers, Florida.  All these things combined have put a huge smile on the Air Chief's face.

As some of you know, our mother has been a resident of a wonderful senior home for the past two years.  The Wentworth Home of Dover, NH, is a truly warm and loving facility run by a dedicated staff of professionals who truly go the extra mile to make their residents lives active and happy.  Recently the administrator asked Ye Old Air Chief, and Mom, to help with the recording of some radio ads to promote Wentworth Home.  So Mom and the Air Chief were interviewed this past week and once those bits are properly edited, they'll soon start running on local radio stations. 

       
                                       Mona & Gabe, (Mom) the Belly Dancers
Several days after finishing the ads, the social director sent me the above photo.  It seems they brought in a few belly dancers to show the residents some dance moves, all part of an exercise regiment they can adopt.  In other words have fun while staying fit.  Naturally Mom, and her pal, Mona, got right into the swing of things as you can all see.  These kind of activities are a very small part of why the Wentworth Home has come to mean so much to the Air Chief and his family.  Homes like these truly deserve our support.

             
One of the movies Ye Old Air Chief has been waiting to see for months was the new WOLF MAN feature starring Benicio Del Tora and Anthony Hopkins.  Based on the old Universal Classic horror film starring Lon Chaney, Jr.  Well, last Saturday morning, Valerie and the Air Chief finally got to see it. And both of us enjoyed it to the max.  What completely surprised the Air Chief was how the ingenious script-writers actually borrowed from two old Universal horror classics; the first being THE WEREWOLF OF LONDON starring Henry Hull, which sadly few people remember today, and then, as mentioned before, the original WOLF MAN with Chaney.  What they did was use the plot from one to explain the plot of the second story-line and it worked extremely well.  Joe Johnson is one of our favorite directors and he did not disappoint here.  The movie is both scary and compelling, with fine performances by all, including the lovely Emily Blunt.  If you enjoy the old classic movies, do not miss THE WOLFMAN.

  
                     Andrew Salmon, Ye Old Air Chief, and Rob Davis at Windy City 2009

Finally, looking at the calendar the other day, we were reminded that all too soon it will be time to pack up and head to the Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention being held in Chicago from April 23rd to the 25th.  This will be the fourth year in a row that Airship 27 Productions is on hand to share in the fun.  The photo above is from last year's show and believe us, all who were in attendance are eager to go back and do it again.  It really is a wonderful weekend show for all.  And we truly hope to see many more of our Loyal Airmen there.  So, on that note, we put this out to you.  Our partner, Rob Davis, and the Ye Old Air Chief are planning on what Airship 27 titles we need to bring to this show. Is there any one Airship 27 pulp book you would like us to have at this show?  Keep in mind we now have twenty two titles in our catalog (simply go to the dirigible logo to the left of this column and click on it to find our on-line store and all our titles listed).  Thus it is impossible to bring all our books to conventions.  We try our best to bring a representation of the newer books plus some of the older ones.  And it always helps a great deal when Loyal Airmen like you drop us a line requesting a specific title.

So there you have it.  If you've never been to a pulp convention, you truly owe to yourselves to do so.  Just being there and socializing with so many terrific people is an amazing experience.  One you should all have.
Thanks as ever for stopping by and we'll see you next week.

Ron – Over & Out!
           

Greeting Loyal Airmen.  It would seem fitting as we head into President's Day weekend and celebrate the one American holiday devoted to romance, Valentine's Day, that we should spotlight several truly beautiful women in this entry of the Flight Log.  And we'll start with a blast from the past.  One of the highlights of the Air Chief's comic book career was writing the Green Hornet series for Now Comics back in the early 1980s.  My artist on that project was the super talented Mr. Jeff Butler.  Towards the end of our run on the character, Jeff and the Air Chief put together a five issue mini-series starring the old serial version of the green clad hero and called it, The Sting of the Green Hornet.  To this day, most fans believe it to be one of the finest Hornet stories ever presented and Jeff and the Air Chief have always been very proud of it.

            
The plot involves a group of Nazis spies led by a gorgeous blond who attempt to kidnap President Franklin Roosevelt and replace him with an impostor.  Recently one of Jeff's many fans, remembering the series with much fondness, commissioned him to draw a bogus cover piece for his private collection.  Jeff was so thrilled and happy with how the art came out, he enthusiastically sent me a digital copy and we, in turn, and are delighted to share it with all you Loyal Airmen.  It's really one of the best GH covers Jeff has ever done, albeit a wee bit risque.  It seems both Jeff and the Air Chief will forever be connected with this classic character. My brand new Green Hornet short story will be appearing in Moonstone books' new prose anthology due out this summer.

As all you Loyal Airmen are aware, Ye Old Air Chief loves writing pulp stories of classic heroes from the 1930s and 40s. Ten years ago we stumbled on a collection of terrific stories featuring a scientific detective named I.V.Frost and his sexy assistant, a honey blond named Jean Moray.  They were the inventions of one of pulpdom's most creative writers, Donald Wandrei.  That book, with its gorgeous cover by artist Les Edwards, is pictured above.  We had long since forgotten about the character until a few weeks ago when, while discussing my new Avenger story with Moonstone's editor/publisher, Joe Gentile, the conversation turned to Frost.  It seemed Joe had come across a copy of the same book, read it and been wowed by the entire series.  When Ye Old Air Chief soundly echoed those exact same feelings, Joe asked if we'd be interested in writing new Frost stories for Moonstone, both in prose and comic form.  You can believe, Loyal Airmen, it didn't take us long to give him an answer.  Earlier this evening we sent Joe our first I.V.Frost short story and next week we will begin working on the first ever Frost comic book adventure.  Stay tuned.  We'll certainly keep you all posted as to where and when these tales will be appear in print.

        
                      The Domino Lady & Athena Voltaire

Finally, we have to tell you about Athena Voltaire.  She is a comic book pulp hero created by artist/writer Steve Bryant as sort of a female Indiana Jones and over the past few years she has appeared in several comic book series from Ape Entertainment.  Several months ago, Steve wrote us that he was hoping to put together an anthology of Athena Voltaire prose stories and asked if the Air Chief would like to do one?  Again, not a hard question at all.  Athena Voltaire is one of the coolest pulp characters ever invented and we jumped at the chance to write one of her action adventures.  Over last weekend we finished “Athena Voltaire and the Austrian Prisoner,” and sent it off to Steve.  We also let all our friends on Facebook know we'd completed the project and we're very happy with how it all came out.  One of the people to read that post was our pulp amigo, Ray Riethmeier and he immediately sent us a digital copy of a pin-up he had commissioned Steve to do for him a while back.  It featured two of pulpdom's classiest femme fatales, the Domino Lady and Athena.  It's a beautiful piece and Ray was most kind to allow the Air Chief to share it with all of you.  Again, once we know when this particular book will be out, we'll spread the good word right here as usual.

And that about wraps it up for this fun week, Loyal Airmen. But first two special family wishes.  The first is a get well wish to our oldest son, Scott, who was operated on yesterday for a deviated septum.  All went well and he is recovering just fine, although the area affected is going to be sore for a while yet.  And secondly, our oldest daughter, Michelle, turns 40 tomorrow.  She'll probably want to shoot me for publicizing that, but there was no way the Air Chief wasn't going to wish her a wonderful, Happy Birthday.  She is a truly beautiful daughter, a great mother and devoted wife.  Valerie and the Air Chief are so very, very proud of her.

There you have it.  Share Valentine's Day with your better half, and we'll see you all back here next week.
Ron- Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  There is an old adage that says those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.  Those words seemed to echo in our thoughts recently when several items, some national and others personal, seem to coalesce on us painting a very sad picture.  There are several states across the country who are actually considering changing the history books at the high school level to start with events of the 1920s.  Understand what we are saying here. These text would complete ignore all of U.S. history prior to that time period. There would be no teaching of the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War etc.etc.  The reasoning behind this insane idea; apparently today's students are having a difficult comprehending long ago history and its relevance to our present times.  Huh?  Maybe it's too much history for them to take in?

Loyal Airmen, we aren't making this up. Once again the system that is suppose to be teaching our kids is opting out of its responsibility because the going is getting too hard. The level of education being given our American students is falling every year in comparison to other nations and our answer is to teach them less.  Excuse me if Ye Old Air Chief doesn't get that logic one iota.  And our fears if this trend continues are very, very real.  Remember that old saying we started this column with, about not knowing one's history and the inherent dangers of that?  Well here is the personal side to all that.

Our parents lived through the Great Depression that ravaged the soul of this great country during the late 1920s and most of the 30s.  As a child growing up, we were constantly told stories about the endless bread lines and the millions of proud Americans out of work.  Homes lost to foreclosure and the homeless wandering the landscape in search of any glimmer of hope.  Often we would be told of vagabonds coming to the door and asking if they could work for food.  These were the grim tales we grew up with and we went to bed every night thanking God that those days were gone.  That thought we had learned from those awful economic mistakes and that we would never again repeat them. Apparently we were wrong.  Last week, while out with her mother and siblings, Valerie saw several men standing outside a local mall with signs that read, WILL WORK FOR FOOD.  When she came home and related this, we were shaken.  Just like that, in the space of a heartbeat, all those horrible stories from the past resurfaced and we realized the awful truth.  Those days are back and all around us people are suffering, are being forced out onto the streets and going to bed hungry.  In the richest country in the world!

What makes all this even more unpalatable was a news item on the sports page a few days later announcing the sum of money (in the millions) being paid to a returning pitcher for a Major League baseball team.  Millions, plural, to play a game.  While thousands of people are on the streets begging for food, trying to stay alive.  If the insanity of this picture doesn't bother you, then nothing will.  It's all wrong.  And we as a people, as a country need to fix it now.   But how do you spread the wealth to all equitably?  Or a better question, should the government do so?  Remember, in a free Democracy, he who works the hardest is paid more than he who does not. There is a way in which American could pick itself up out of this economic morass and begin to balance its ridiculously out-of-control budget expenditures.  It is such a simple solution and has been proposed time and time again.

              
The operation capital to run our country comes from only one source, the taxes we the citizens pay. It is a totally boondoggle of a complex system with enough variables and exemptions to choke an elephant.  It is almost impossible for the average citizen to understand.  It is also broken.  People with millions of dollars have legal options available to them so that in the end they pay a lesser percentage than those poor and middle class who do not have access to these same options.  And please, Loyal Airmen, be aware, these rich people are bi-partisan, they are Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and Independents.  Their one common denominator, their wealth and ability not to pay their fair share.

The answer is and has always been to do away with our current tax laws and replace them with one simple Flat Tax to the effect of 10 cents on the dollar.  Period.  For every single dollar a citizen ( or corporation ) earns, they pay ten cents to the government.  End of story.  It has been determined by economic experts that such a tax would within a few short years not only fund and maintain the government, but create a growing surplus that would in a very short time eliminate the national deficit.  We aren't making any of this up.  It's all true.  There is also a moralist honestly to such a tax.  Think about it.  If all you made was $25, 000 a year, you would pay your ten percent and that ball player who made $2 million would pay his ten percent.  Somehow that's just right.  Everyone would pay the same equal share.  Another glorious benefit that would be immediately felt would be the down-sizing of the Government Tax Bureau.  Tax forms would cease being thick booklets no one can understand, replaced by one single piece of paper.  You would list your income for the year, calculate the ten percent and voila, taxes done.  It can be that easy.  It should be that easy.

And of course if its so miraculously easy a fix why hasn't the government implemented it?  We'll leave you with that question.  And if the answer you come up with gets you angry, then good.  Maybe some day millions of us will all get angry together and do something about it.  But first, let's not trash our history in the process.  That, in the end, would simply be making the bad times even worse.

Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Well the first month of 2010 is almost over and it seemed to whip by in the blink of an eye. Time is very much a roller coaster for us these days as we seem to have lots of things going on all at once.  This coming Sunday, the last day of the month, I'll be joining my son Kevin, and several other gentlemen, for lunch.  But before we enjoy that meal together, we'll be be fitted for tuxedos.  You see, Kevin is getting married in April and that is an event all Fortiers are eagerly anticipated.  His fiancee, Melanie, is a truly wonderful and beautiful young lady and we can't wait to help them celebrate the start of their lives together.  So we're going to ask all you Loyal Airmen, come April, to keep us in your thoughts with lots and lots of good wishes for gorgeous, warm weather.  Kev and Mel are planning on being married at York Beach, Maine and believe me, in April, you can still fall prey to nasty winter temps. We've watched many a Red Sox games where the fans sat freezing while snow fell on them at Fenway Park.  But again, we're hoping God will shine down on these two and their special day.

Valerie continues to do well in her recovery from knee surgery.  She still needs to ice it every so often, but for the most part has all of her mobility back.  The doctor did say it would take at least a full six weeks before it was really all healed. So she isn't pushing it.  And speaking of my better half, long ago Ye Old Air Chief created a comic book character based in part on her personality called Valerie Chevalier.  The later name is French for horseman and is where we derive the old knight's code of honor known as chivalry.  Which was what we tagged this proposal, CHIVALRY, INC.

            
                  Chivalry by artist Olivier Raymond

The idea behind the story is that Chivalry is a Montreal cop.  Something happens to her during an undercover assignments and leaves her with a very unique and special gift.  Because of this gift, she quits the force and opens up her own private investigations agency calling it CHIVALRY, INC.   Over the past ten years at least three different artists became involved with the concept but in each case they had to move on before getting it wrapped up.  Recently Ye Old Air Chief joined the good folks at Delve Comics who will soon be launching their comics web site on the net.  As we are already writing one series for them, DOCTOR DEMISE & THE SPACE GYPSIES, they asked if we might have another idea we wanted to pitch for the site.  We immediately dusted off the files on this proposal and offered it to them.  Lo and behold, they not only accepted the project, but went ahead and found a marvelous Canadian artist named Olivier Raymond to do the artwork.  Above is his very first attempt at our heroine and we love it.  He has totally captured Chivalry the way we have always imagined her.  So stay tuned, Loyal Airmen.  This one is going to be tons of fun.

               
Meanwhile on the pulp front, we've more terrific news.  Within the next two weeks we'll be releasing Airship 27 Productions' second title of the year, ROBIN HOOD – KING OF SHERWOOD FOREST, a new novel by writer I.A. Watson.  This is a bold retelling of the classic story, set against the authentic history of the times.  It is one of the most enjoyable Robin Hood books we've ever had the pleasure of reading and we know it is going to be a huge hit.  Our Art Director, Rob Davis, is providing all the black and white spot interior illustrations like the one above and artist Mike Manley is gracing us with a gorgeous cover painting.  We can't wait to show it off.  Again, it arrives in just a few more weeks.

And that's it for another Flight Log, Loyal Airmen.  Thanks as always for stopping by and think Spring.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Last week we started off our Flight Log with the news of Valerie's knee surgery.  Well, here we are, seven days later and nothing but good news to report.  Her operation to fix a tear in her meniscus went extremely well.  The entire process took only about twenty minutes and afterward the surgeon told me he was happy to find that her knee was in excellent condition, thus making his work that much easier.  He predicted she would recover smoothly.  Sure enough, within two days, Valerie was doing all the exercises she had been taught and moving around the house with almost no difficulty at all. She kept icing the knee to keep the swelling down and did exactly as instructed.  Four days after her surgery she got on our treadmill and walked for thirty minutes. Ye Old Air Chief was simply stunned.  Yesterday was her follow up visit with the doctor and like yours truly, he too was in awe of how well she has recovered.  Bottom line is she does not require any therapy as long as she is careful and continues to exercise, she should experience a full recovery within the next six weeks. Meaning, once good weather arrives, she will be able to do our daily mile and a half walk without any pain. We'd like to thank all of you for your prayers and positive thoughts during this time. We truly appreciate them more than words can say.

We also reported last week on our winning the first ever Wild Wolf Award from that publisher for our graphic novel, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA, being their top selling book in 2009.  Well the official award arrived in the mail and we promised we would share it with you.  Again, our sincere thanks to everyone who bought a copy to make the book such a success and to Wild Wolf Entertainment's Sean Collins for supporting it as much as he did.

On other fronts of good news, Jan.1st marked the end of our fourth quarter sales for Airship 27 Productions and our publisher, Cornerstone Book Publishers just released the tally for all our titles.  For the second straight quarter in a row, with sales of a 150 copies, SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE was our number one seller.  Which translates to almost fifty  copies a month for the past six months.  All of us involved with Airship 27 Productions are both thrilled and delighted.  The book, pictured above, can be found at our on-line store, Amazon.com and other fine book sellers.  And only a few weeks ago we released the second volume in this series.  If you are a devoted fan of the Great Detective, pick up a copy and see why readers around the globe have made it such a big winner.

        
Finally, we wanted to leave you with a piece of promotional artwork from a future Airship 27 Production title now in the works.  We've always been fans of the old space heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.  Later this year, we will be debuting our own original space hero, MARS McCOY – SPACE RANGER, in a series of all new anthologies.  Pictured about is Mars' ship, the Black Bird 5.  We hope you'll like this new galactic trouble shooter and come along for the ride.

And that's it for another week, Loyal Airmen, January is whipping along and pretty soon it will time for the Red Sox to report to Spring Training Camp in Ft.Myers, Florida.  So, stay warm and think of good things.  We'll see you all back here next week.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen. It's now early Thursday night and I want to get this in early because we are going to be off to bed early tonight in order to wake up at 5 AM.  Last summer, while on her hands and knees planting our summer flowers, Valerie had to keep shifting and twisting her legs around and somewhere in the process did something to her right leg.  At the time we had no idea what it could be but as the weeks and months went by, she began to experience a slight, but persistent pain every time she either climbed up or down, be it outside on the street or indoors on the stairs.  There was absolutely no discomfort when walking on a level surface, so we were both perplexed as to what was going on. As usually happens with such things, this minor pain continued to make itself known until she finally decided to solve the mystery once and for all and went to see an orthopedic doctor. After an X-ray and an M.R.I, it was relieved that she had a slight meniscus tear in the muscle under her right knee. How to remedy that?  By having the tear surgically removed.  It is a common in-out day procedure and it will happen tomorrow morning at 6 AM.

The doctor assured us this is a very familiar ailment and that he does dozens of these surgeries yearly.  He also added her recovery time, with the proper stretch exercising therapy should be about ten days.  Again really good news. So tonight we're watching a little TV and then going to bed early with the alarm set. If you are reading these words and it's Friday morning, please say a little prayer it all goes smooth.  Thanks, we truly appreciate that.

           
               DAUGHTER OF DRACULA

Earlier this week, Sean Collins, the president of Wild Wolf Entertainment announced the first Wild Wolf Entertainment Award.  This is given to the WWE title that outsells all others during a given year.  This first time award for the best selling comic of 2009 was given to ye Old Air Chief and artist Rob Davis for our adult graphic novel, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA, cover pictured above.  Both Rob and I want to thank Sean and Wild Wolf for taking a chance on our book and helping to bring it to a larger audience.  That faith and support is the reason behind this gracious award.   Rest assured Loyal Airmen, that once the award arrives, we'll be posting a good photo here for all of you to see.  Meanwhile, if any of you would like to purchase a copy of this 108 pg. graphic novel, all you have to do is simply go to our Air Fare page and click on the cover you will find there. Note, those of you who prefer shopping at more traditional outlets, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA is available at Amazon.

And speaking of Amazon, we have also added an on-line pulp store at Amazon called The Airship 27 Emporium where you can find all our pulp books in one location, plus some other interesting fare like cliff-hanger serials on DVD.  If you'd like to visit the Emporium, simply go to our Links Page and scroll down to our familiar dirigible logo and click on it.

And lastly, the horrible tragedy in Haiti confronts all of us, challenging our humanity.  Please, give whatever you can to help the relief effort.  Every single dollar will make a difference and above all else, pray for those survivors and the men and women from around the world rushing to their aid.  As Christians, we believe all men and women are our brothers and sisters.  This is about family, Loyal Airmen. We all need to do something.

Take care, Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen, we hope the new year is starting out as wonderful to you as it has for us here in Hangar 27. Prior to the coming Christmas holidays, there were two new movies Ye Old Air Chief was very, very anxious to see.  One was SHERLOCK HOLMES, which we saw and in last week's Flight Log praised for its fun and sense of originality.  The other was writer/director James Cameron's blockbuster science fiction epic, AVATAR.  What with the amazing reception this film garnered upon its release, Valerie and the Air Chief made the decision to hold off seeing it until the furor over it had abetted…at least to a milder degree.  Ha.

The more we kept seeing the trailers and reading reviews both professionals and from our friends, it became clear that we should do our utmost to maximize our viewing of this adventure film.  To that end, this morning we drove up to Saco, Maine to see the movie in 3D at an I-Max theater.  And we are so glad we did so.  AVATAR is simply one of the greatest movies this fan has ever seen.  In the 58 years we've been going to the movies, (my Dad first dragged me along with him when I was five)  the Air Chief has seen every kind imaginable, from great to bloody awful. As a child we were mesmerized by the images on the giant silver screen and they fired our imagination.  Those images transported us to ancient times or far off civilizations and we gladly went along for the ride.  AVATAR is that kind of totally sensory immersion that defines why we love the movies so much.

Ever since we fell in love with science fiction at the age of eleven, we have dreamed of going to the stars, of visiting far off alien worlds and meeting the beings who inhabit them.  AVATAR did that for us within the first few scenes. Its powerful images carried us along to the planet PANDORA, a world we have only ever dared visit in our childlike daydreams.  And now, thanks to the magic of the movies, we were living those dreams.  We were once again captured by a pure sense of wonder while viewing a place totally new, yet oddly familiar all in one.  We've never forgoten the first time we saw the original KING KONG, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBING HOOD and STAR WARS.  Now AVATAR joins that august list of movies that have touched our very souls.  Thank you James Cameron, for making the magic live again.

Being such a big science-fiction fan, many of the elements of AVATAR were quickly recognizable to the Air Chief, from the theme of using humanoid avatars (cloned bodies) to explore hostile environments to the enhanced robotic Waldos employed by the space marines in the tale.  These are familiar trappings.  But what caught the Air Chief's wonder was the lush jungle world of the planet Pandora, and as we watched the story unfold, we kept having flashbacks to another such setting, one that clearly echoed Cameron's alien setting.  Back in 1975, popular sci-fi writer Alan Dean Foster wrote a novel called MIDWORLD which takes place on a fantastic jungle world very similar to that of Pandora, where ecology is so interconnected in myriad ways creating a single, spiritual entity that is the very planet itself.  If you see AVATAR and come away moved by it as the Air Chief, I would urge you to hunt up MIDWORLD and read it.  Then drop us a line and see if you don't share my thoughts on this terrific novel and its similarities to the movie here.

And finally we shift gears, once again returning to 221 B Baker Street and the world of the Great Detective.  Last year, Airship 27 Productions released SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE Vol.One and it quickly went on to become the most successful title we have ever produced.  It continues to sell briskly and folks who have read it have written asking us to do more of these anthologies starring the Baker St. Sleuth. So now the wait is over.

Our Second Volume features five more original stories by Andrew Salmon, Bernadette Johnson, I.A.Watons and Josh Reynold.  It features a stunning cover by Canadian painter Ingrid Hardy, with interiors by the book's designer and the art director of Airship 27 Productions, Rob Davis. It is now available for sale at our on-line store simply by going to the flying dirigible logo to the left of this column and clicking on it.  If you enjoyed the new Sherlock Holmes movie and want to continue enjoying this character's adventures, then what better way than pick up this book.  As ever, thanks for your support.  This is our first book of 2010 and we are fairly excited about it.  We've set a goal of doing twelve books this year, one a month.  Can we do it?  Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck. We've truly got some great titles on the way.  Some old favorites and others that we hope will surprise you in pleasant ways.

And there you have it Loyal Airmen, 2010 is kicking off in such a wonderful and positive way.  Let's keep this ride going for all year long.

Ron – Over & Out.