You might say research on board the USS Nimitz for one book helped author Alvin Tomley’s next book take flight.

“I spent a week on the Nimitz, and realized there was a much larger and more important story to tell,” Townley said in a telephone interview last week.

Such was the birth of his newest book, “Fly Navy,” which will be released April 26. His research was already underway when he discovered a lucky coincidence – 2011 marks the centennial of naval aviation. That was all the motivation Townley needed to dive into his latest project.

“I kind of immersed myself in it for a year,” he said. “I wrote as I researched, so in a way (the book) is the journey of exploring and learning as I went. It reflects my evolving understanding of naval aviation.”

Townley, 35, hails from Atlanta, Ga., and said that like most young American boys, what he knew about naval aviation came from watching the movie “Top Gun.”

“I thought (naval aviation) was all about hot shot fighter pilots,” Townley said. “I found out quickly I was wrong. It takes an entire cast of people to launch aircraft. There’s an amazing pageantry to it that has happened for a hundred years.”

“Fly Navy,” is more than just the history of flying. It’s a human interest story.

“It struck me how young so many of the service men and women are. Most pilots have been to college, but the average age on a carrier hovers around 21,” said Townley. “It hit me what kind of responsibility they have and they’re just a couple of years out of high school. I want America to understand what special people are involved in defending our nation.”

Townley said he wanted to make the book enjoyable to read and put a face on our service men and women. Indeed, his account of Eugene Ely’s first takeoff, and later his first landing, on makeshift wooden decks on the USS Birmingham and the USS Pennsylvania, respectively, pulls readers in.

The stories of people enduring extreme training conditions or of families coping with long separations are what help Townley tell his story.

“Something that surprised me, and I guess it shouldn’t have, was the degree to which the military family plays a role.” Townley said. “There’s a whole chapter in the book that addresses it. It takes an entire community — and family — to launch an aircraft. That support is so important.”

Townley said his research led him to visit most major Naval bases in the in the US, including Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, where Lt. Denver Amerine of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 gave him a tour.

“I had a great time at Whidbey Island,” said Townley. “Denver was just starting his training and we had a great visit. Almost a year later I met him again on the USS Carl Vinson when he was getting his carrier qualifications.”

Lt. Amerine is one of three brothers born and raised near Paris, Ark. As Townley recounts in the book, the three boys — Lee, Travis and Denver, the youngest — called themselves Maverick, Goose and Iceman as they were growing up. All three aspired to be pilots like their “Top Gun” personas, and all three realized their dream.

Or take Cdr. Scott Farr, VAQ-140 on NAS Whidbey. While on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Arabian Sea roughly a year ago, Townley met with five squadron commanders. Farr was one of them.

Cdr. Farr has been in the Navy for 19 years, 15 of them here on Whidbey Island. He and the other commanders spoke to Townley about the responsibility of command, the rewards of a Navy career and what it’s like to do the job for an extended period of time.

“We’re naval officers,” Farr said. “We’re expected to be officers first. There’s a tremendous amount of responsibility that goes with that. But getting to be a part of something bigger than you is very meaningful. Doing a job that not everybody is willing to do or wants to do is unique.”

And then there’s the simple joy of doing something you love.

“When you go down a catapult and accelerate from zero to 160 miles an hour, it’s the greatest thing in the world,” said Farr.

Passion like Farr has for the job and stories like that of the Amerine brothers and other Navy families help Townley mix the history of naval flight with current inspiration.

“One of the coolest moments was in San Diego,” Townley said. “I was standing with Vice Adm. Tom Kilcline, Jr. His son had earned his wings. His father had also been a vice admiral and his grandfather was an enlisted aviator in World War II.

“Here was a man with four generations of naval aviators in his family, talking about the future of aviation…and he said ‘You know, the role and mission will always be changing, but the one thing that is enduring is the value and spirit of naval aviation.’”

That is part of what Townley wanted to capture in writing “Fly Navy.” He wants people outside the world of naval aviation to realize there is more than the combat element of military service. The Navy is dedicated to serving others, Townley said, citing humanitarian efforts in Haiti and more recently, Japan.

He wants those in the service to realize the role they have played over the last century, and the role they continue to play.

“Naval aviation is an institution and enterprise that produces citizens,” he said. “It takes 18-year-old kids from very different backgrounds and teaches them values that are going to make them not only successful members of the armed forces, but also successful citizens when they return to the community.

“I hope they can read this book and take away pride in what they’ve been a part of, and what they are still a part of,” said Townley. “There’s a legacy of values and spirit that I hope people who have been a part of it will pass down to the next generation.”

Naval Air Station Whidbey Island celebrates the Centennial of Naval Aviation
July 5:  USO Show – Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band

July 28:
Golf Tournament

July 29:
Luncheon,
All-Hands Reception and Barbecue,
Commanding Officer’s Reception and Barbecue

July 30:
(Open to the public)
5K Flightline Run
Fly-In

Information: www.facebook.com/Naval#!/NASWICoNA or 257-4211