The Adventures of Tommy the Texan and Captain Billy: A Return to Blue Skies

By William Moyle and David C. Moyle

Book one of The Adventures of Tommy the Texan and Captain Billy narrated the story of how Billy’s relationship began with his friend in flight, Tommy the Texan. Their adventures brought them from their meeting in a barn in Arizona to Tommy’s new home in a hangar at a small airport in Danbury, Connecticut. Billy and his crew restored Tommy and prepped him to return to the air.

Book two of the Tommy the Texan series, The Adventures of Tommy the Texan and Captain Billy: A Return to Blue Skies, shares how the bond between Tommy, a T-6 Texan airplane, and Captain Billy keeps growing as he and his crew prepare for Tommy’s first test flight and a return to blue skies. Lois and Tracie, two of Billy’s pilot friends, become new members of the team.

The story follows the team as they get Tommy ready for his test flight and face a challenge that could be a big problem. The crew flies down to Florida to attend a flying formation clinic where Billy hopes to get certified so their adventures can continue.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Sep 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781480882812

William Moyle

William “Captain Billy” Moyle started flying at the age of fourteen. Since then, he has nurtured his passion for flying and education, teaching aviation and flying aircraft from an Aeronca Champ to a Douglas DC-8. Now retired, he hopes his juvenile novel series will both inspire and educate today’s youth in aviation and life. This is his second book. Moyle is also the author of The Adventures of Tommy the Texan and Captain Billy: Back to the Beginning.

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Copyright © 2019 William Captain Billy Moyle.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

David C. Moyle, Illustrator

Laura E. O’Connor, Editor

ISBN: 978-1-4808-8280-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-8281-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019913639

Archway Publishing rev. date:   09/30/2019

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Don Stamp, who gave me my first opportunity to experience flying in a North American T6/SNJ WWII advanced trainer. He offered me a chance to fly with him during a formation clinic sponsored by the North American Trainer Association (NATA). It was an eye-opening experience to fly in the lead aircraft during formation training and certification.

After an exhilarating ride over the Gulf of Mexico just west of Punta Gorda Florida, I sat on the wing and the name. Tommy the Texan came to mind, which started my journey to write a series of children’s books about flying.

Don’s dedication to sharing his love of flying and knowledge is behind every word on these pages. We share both the love of flying, and the desire to teach and inspire the youth of today to hopefully keep their eyes on the sky.

Dedicating this book to him was a natural choice as the story evolved. Unfortunately, Don is no longer with us, and he has left a very large void to fill. I last talked to him in 2018 at Oshkosh AirVenture, where I presented him with book one and expressed my thanks for his inspiration.

Blue Skys and Tailwinds Don.

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Don Stamp

Photo by Jack Tyson

Don Stamp was born on October 23, 1938 in Salem, OH and flew west on November 10, 2018 in Punta Gorda, FL. He earned his degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1961. He worked at the Electric Furnace Company in Salem in many capacities and traveled the world during his employment. He currently was the owner operator of Grid Industrial Heating Inc. in Salem, OH.

Don loved flying. He began flying in 1965 and continued on as a flight instructor, a flight instructor for instructors, pilot for a parachute club, captain for his own Air Charter business, and an airshow regular. He built his own Skybolt biplane, Piper J3 Cub, and rebuilt a 1945 T6/SNJ 5 from the ground up. His T6, a two-seat advanced WWII trainer, known as the Pilot Maker, was flown on July 20, 1999, for the first time since 1958. Stamp purchased it in 1988 and restored it. He had it painted with the Guantanamo Bay designation, with yellow, orange and silver war paint. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) awarded him The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award in January 2016. This prestigious award is issued for 50 years of accident- and violation-free flying.

In October 2014, Don flew a ground-breaking, once in a lifetime flight. Approximately 30 Texans launched from Culpeper Regional Airport and soared in formation down the Potomac River passing over the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery in a special flyover honoring our Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and the sacrifices they have and continue to make for our freedom.

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Don’s SNJ

Photo by Jack Tyson

He was a member of many organizations that supported flying and veterans. Those organizations include Warbirds of America, Experimental Aircraft Association, EAA Chapter 565 and