I haven't seen any mention of this on the forum, but at the Dec. 6 signing in Portland, Clive laid out all the projects currently in the queue.

One more Dirk Pitt novel, with equal billing to Dirk C.

A coffee table book about the the car collection that is now about 75% photographed.

A children's book along the lines of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, written about the legedary flight of the Vin Fiz.

Here's a little background on the Vin Fiz:The tale of Cal Rodgers jr. and the Vin Fiz

Clive talked a little about the "real Chitty Chitty Bang Bangs" three automobiles with airplane engines, but as most of you probably know, Ian Fleming's children's story was not firmly rooted in reality. Clive didn't say whether the Vin Fiz story would be straightforward historical piece, or a flight of fancy. Wait and see.

Thanks for the update and for the information on Vin Fiz, very interesting th:

The car collection coffee table book sounds like it could be a promising project!

Clive indicated that it has been in the works for some time, but that getting the cars photographed has been quite a feat. My guess is that he isn't content to simply roll them out on the lawn and snap a picture. He's probably looking for exciting locations and settings to best display the vehicles.

Thats a great story!

"12 of the Vin Fiz's landings were crashes!" :o

and on that subject, Clive revealed a little about his own experiences as a pilot. CC & DP Revealed mentions that Clive and his buddies bought an airplane while stationed in Hawaii. What it doesn't tell is how one day while Clive was soloing, the engine abruptly quit and he had to make a dead stick landing on a pineapple plantation road. He got the plane down in one piece, but one wheel caught on a rock and the plane spun around and nosed over. Clive promptly sold his interest in the plane and never got into the cockpit again.

I can't say I blame him :blink:

Sorry to hear that he quit piloting after a minor inconvenience like that. Personally, I've never crashed a plane that I could not walk away from, and that taught me to never upset the flight line and maintainance crews. Dead engines, lost landing gear and brakes are great stories to tell the grandkids, or adoring literary fans. Dirk and Al never stopped flying. Heck, Dirk and Al's adventures are what got me started flying and diving.

You fall off a horse, you get back on. You crash an airplane, you get back in one. (If you can)
My first plane wreck happened when I was 5 yrs. old. My brother and I were with our father when one of us just HAD to pee. Dad spotted a field to put down in. It had snowed, but you could see wheat stubble through the snow so Dad figured it was only a few inches deep. Well, the farmer had mowed his field about a foot tall, so when Dad landed, the weels dug in and the plane flipped upside down. Otherwise known as a
ground loop. The farmer came out with his tractor and they got the airplane right side up. Took off the propeller and straightened it out. Put it back on, and away we went.
There have been a few other little misadventures through the years but we never gave up flying.

kujo54

Absolutely. You can't let a little thing like the risk of a plane crash get you down, especially if you're a talented, creative person with millions of fans.

Why I myself had a little incident with a plane...do you think that stopped me from...

Oh, yeah I guess it did. Maybe Clive's concern is justified.

At the time, Clive didn't have millions of fans.
And John Denver just forgot to put gas in his airplane. A little too Rocky Mountain High?