Silver Wings for Vicki

Silver Wings for Vicki by Helen Wells (1947) This is the first book of the “Vicki Barr Flight Stewardess Series”—some are credited to Helen Wells, some to Julie Tatham—as are the Cherry Ames Nurse series. I liked this book a lot. It started out slow and took its time—introduced Vicki Barr, her home, and family. She applies for a job with the airline, and it's quite competitive, but she gets accepted, and they fly her to New York for training. This is the first time she's flown, and the description of it is pretty inspired. She meets a few other women who are also in training, and a group of them share an apartment in New York, once they start working. They are all on call—they have to be ready to take a shift with a moment's notice. Eventually, there is a mystery involving smugglers, and it's a good mystery, very believable, not too overblown. What I like best about the book, though, is the detailed description about the job and flying—it's in the mid 1940s, so an interesting time for aviation. I especially liked the description of Vicki's initial flight, and the steak dinner during the flight, followed by coffee and ice cream. Then following the dinner, there's a wax-paper envelope with mints and a cigarette! I know that seems insane now, but I do remember when you could smoke on airplanes—but still, a little packet with after dinner mints and a cigarette—that just made me laugh.