Excerpt Tour and Giveaway - Against the Wind: Hope Sees the Invisible by Tony F. Powell

Welcome to my stop on the excerpt tour for Against the Wind: Hope Sees the Invisible by Tony F. Powell. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an exclusive excerpt from the book. There's also a tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more exclusive excerpts and content. Enjoy!

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Title: Against the Wind: Hope Sees the Invisible

Author: Tony F. Powell

Publisher: Tellwell Talent

Publication Date: December 10th 2020

Print Length: 376 pages

Genre: Autobiography

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Tony Powell was born on March 16, 1955 in Charlottetown, Labrador, NL, on the Northeast Coast of Canada, son of the late Benjamin and Effie Powell. Together they had nine children - seven boys and two girls. Six boys become bush pilots. Tony is married to Ida Powell, and they have one child, Ramsey, who is a medical doctor.

Tony will take you on his life's journey. His stories are captivating, inspiring, and heart-wrenching. He never faltered in achieving his dreams and aspirations.

Tony has a great love for family and history. His greatest qualities are his positive attitude and calm nature, never allowing negative thinking to weaken his strengths and defeat his goals.

Tony's early years took him to the rich fishing ground off the shores of Labrador. At the tender age of seven he would accompany his dad and the crew to haul the cod traps in an ol' 10-metre motorboat. At age fourteen he was fishing as a share-man on his dad's longliner in the furry seas of Northern Labrador.

At age seventeen Tony was guiding sports fishermen from all over the world, fishing for trout and Atlantic salmon in our rich Labrador rivers and streams. Their excitement became his enjoyment.

Tony begin his career as a commercial pilot at the age of twenty. His love of flight included seven years with Labrador Airways, coupled with three years flying the mission plane out of North West River, Labrador.

Tony's dream was to have his own flying service. Pursuing his dream, he became owner/Chief Pilot of Labrador Travel Air, an aircraft charter company. With the newly constructed Trans Labrador Highway along our shores, Labrador Travel Air became history.

He has 45 years of flying experience and 27,000 hours of flight time on over 30 different types of single-and multi-engine aircraft on wheels, skis and floats, including a commercial helicopter licence, often logging 1500 hours in a single year. In Tony's years of flight thus far he is very proud to have a proven record of never having any injuries to his passengers or himself.

Tony continues to fly seasonally on a legendary Beaver seaplane for Portland Creek Aviation, and has his own PA-18 Super Cub C-GTFP.

I invite you to come experience first hand Captain Tony Powell behind the controls of the legendary de Havilland piston-powered Beaver during the seventies without heaters in -50°C temperatures. Watch him perform many lifesaving mercy flights while battling some of nature's most severe weather conditions anywhere on the planet. His described flights will surely capture the attention of the most avid flyer as we witness him survive engine failures and even a crash landing amongst the huge trees in Labrador.

Come live out in real time his heroic shipwreck. Sit on his modified Mach Z Ski-Doo and feel the adrenaline flow through your veins as you race for dear life up the big mountain in the Race on the Rock at Marble Mountain, NL.

At age forty-eight, Tony was diagnosed with fourth and final stage cancer. Learn of his prognosis, and his courageous determination to survive. Experience his fight to beat the odds.

Throughout Tony's recollections you will travel by air, water and land, experiencing historic events and fatal airplane crash scenes in Labrador, including the story of his Grandfather Powell sailing onboard the Dorothy Duff while delivering a load of salt cod fish to the Mediterranean Sea during WWI. It will surely chill you to your core.

Tony will welcome you to his childhood family home where you will find pure love overcoming many of life's obstacles. Find out the true meaning of perseverance, courage and strength.

Tony has shown us what life's struggles are all about and how he survived them.

This book is a true reflection of living our lives one day at a time. Each day we all journey Against the Wind and survive the storms of life.

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EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

My Worst Aircraft Accident continued…

I thought about my dear mother back home, said a quick prayer, and I pushed the control column foreword to maintain flying speed, aiming the nose between the two tallest trees in front of us, dropping full flap. As the stall warning sounded, I gently pulled the control column all the way back to my belly, intentionally stalling the aircraft at the last split second as we made contact with the black spruce trees about forty feet above ground. It was like a nightmare! The sound of medal cracking, fuel squirting over the exhaust, and the windscreen steam rising as the aircraft came to abrupt stop at thirty-seven feet from first contact with the trees. Hanging in the trees five feet above ground, the wings were badly broken and we could hear a sizzling sound like bacon in a frying pan. I said, “Get out Benny, she is going to explode,” because the fuel was coming from the punctured fuel tanks on the wings. It was squirting up like a fountain by now, spraying the engine, and there was black smoke arising from all around the exhaust and cowlings.

The flaps and left float had my door blocked so I had to crawl across to the co-pilots seat and out I jumped behind Benny. I shouted, “Run for your life!” We booted it as fast as we could amongst the thick woods, away from the aircraft, and waited for the explosion . . . that never happened!

We waited for a little while longer to make sure there wasn’t any smoke or flames. I said, “Benny, boy, I think it’s safe now for us to go back to the plane. We need to get the axe and cut down a few of these trees because I expect the helicopter will be here soon to rescue us. With all them big thick trees they will have a hard job to see us and I think it will be difficult for them to get down close enough to hoist us out.”

Cautiously edging our way back toward my downed airplane, I climbed aboard and got the axe. Benny and I were in pretty good shape and in short order we had the trees mowed down. Approximately half an hour later we could hear the helicopter circling just to the west of us. I went back inside the Cessna again and was able to make contact with him on the VHF, giving them our exact position. In a matter of minutes it was comforting to see the German Luftwaffe rescue helicopter hovering 150 feet above the crash site. Benny was first to be hoisted up on the cable to safety onboard the chopper. However, the helicopter had trouble holding its position in the wind and turbulence with the load, so they flew to an opening a couple of miles north, dropped off part of its load and came back for me. It was rough going up on the cable, swinging around and bouncing off the trees. As I was helped inside the helicopter the German captain looked back at me and said, “Professional job!”

Benny and I left the hospital in good spirits, neither of us had any injuries, not even a scratch. The only thing hurt on me that day was my pride. That night myself and Benny went out on the town to celebrate life. At the Mack Club we met up with the helicopter rescue crew, so needless to say everyone there heard about the accident and for Benny and I, it was free drinks. From what I can remember we had a good time.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tony Powell was born and raised at Charlottetown, Labrador, Newfoundland Labrador, a proud member of NunatuKavut, Southern Inuit of Labrador. He is mixed blood Inuit and European decent, the son of the late Author Benjamin W. Powell of Charlottetown, Labrador, NL. His mom was the late Effie Mary Campbell Powell, born at George's Cove, ten miles south of Square Islands on the southeast coast of Labrador. Married to Ida Powell of Conche, on the great Northern Peninsula of NL, they have a son, Ramsey Powell, who is a medical Doctor.

When Tony was a boy the main mode of transportation along the Labrador Coast was by a Team of husky dogs or snowshoes.

A travelling doctor and nurse visited our community once during the winter by dog team, and once during the summer by boat. The first scheduled Aircraft passenger service was Labrador Airways by single engine Otter in 1970 winter time only.

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GIVEAWAY:

Tony F. Powell will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

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