Just a few short months ago, we at RoadBike had the pleasure of featuring a special cross-country tour story. You may remember it: In the December/January ’06 issue, we published an article called “Finding Wings,” by Gary Younglove. Gary rode all over the US in search of old friends, both human and mechanical, as he tracked down the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II fighter planes that were used by the US Air Force’s Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron between 1969 and 1973.

Gary rode his Yamaha V-Star Classic, dubbed “Thunderbike,” almost 8,000 miles and did a spectacular job of documenting his trip. If you enjoyed the five-page story in our mag, where we could only scratch the surface with a fast-forwarded version, you’ll have to read the nearly 300-page book. Gary is part poet, part historian, part motorcyclist, and part adventurer, and his quest was to relive the past while fully enjoying the present.

He takes you along as he finds the 9 remaining aircraft of the 11 that were used by the Thunderbirds during that era. The book is an easy read — I enjoyed knocking it out during a coast-to-coast plane trip (appropriate, considering the subject matter). The only bad thing was that I kept kicking myself for not joining Gary on his journey. You see, he let us know about his idea long before he departed, but it was hard to break away. Instead, we kept tabs on him through daily updates on his web site. You can see an overview of his travels at gdyounglove.net/thunderbirdsondisplay/index.htm.

The trip was documented in local news coverage and military newsletters around the country. Gary included a few of those stories in the book, as well as some of the encouraging messages he received on his web site during the trip. Gary’s tale is one worth telling. The book is available directly from his web site, and if you ask him nicely, he’ll even autograph it for you. RB

SOURCES

Phantom Memories $22.95
By Gary Younglove
Paperback, 290 pp.
28540 Jim Dandy Cir.
Fair Oaks Ranch, TX 78015
gdyounglove.net/phantoms