Tanguy-la-vie-dure, alias Josef, pende zijn herinneringen neer in
          drie schriftjes die hij kapitein Yann Calec toevertrouwde. Uit zijn
          levensverhaal blijkt dat Josef niet alleen een buitengewoon vliegenier was, maar ook een bewogen verleden met zich meedraagt. Dit
          tweede deel vertelt hoe Josef en zijn moeder in Parijs aankomen nadat
          ze in de jaren twintig uit Oost-Afrika zijn weggevlucht. Om rond te
          komen heeft de jongeman geen andere keuze dan als arbeider aan de
          slag te gaan. Toch blijft hij ervan dromen om achter de stuurknuppel
          van een vliegtuig plaats te nemen. Zonder geld en met zijn afkomst
          gaat die vlieger helaas niet op...

De leerschool

Yann Calec vaart met zijn vrachtschip langs de kusten van Oost-

 Afrika. Daar loopt het averij op in een woeste storm. Als Yann de

 schade gaat opmeten, stuit hij in het ruim van zijn eigen schip op

 kisten vol wapens. Onder zijn neus hebben wapensmokkelaar blijkbaar

 een handeltje opgezet, met de hulp van iemand van zijn bemanning en

 een onrustwekkende passagier. Hij besluit om de kisten op een eiland

 te verbergen voor hij aanmeert in Djibouti. Maar de smokkelbende

 kidnapt zijn dochter en chanteert hem. Yann kan niet anders dan hulp

 zoeken, ook al moet hij daarvoor een hoge prijs betalen...

Storm op komst

At long last, Yann Calec is a captain-and it's his own ship! But the shipping lines he used to sail for don't look kindly on competition. The rich are arrayed against him-executives, bankers, town council members, even union leaders!-and pitting all their powers toward stopping him from refitting an old freighter. The few men willing to hire on with him are far from the cream of the crop. And when police find a night watchman's mutilated corpse aboard the drydocked vessel, things look grim for the young captain...

Tramp - Volume 10 - The Cursed Freighter

In the midst of a storm off the African coast, Yann Calec and his crew are dismayed to discover rifles in their cargo hold. Someone's made them into gun runners! With his Liberty ship and his living on the line, the young captain decides to double-cross the smugglers. Protests from his wife Rosanna fall on deaf ears, but Calec is wrong not to heed her: soon the smugglers have kidnapped their daughter, holding her hostage against the weapons' return. With nowhere but the underworld to turn, Calec is about to find out just how low he'll go to save his beloved Inès...

Tramp - Volume 11 - Storm Warning

1924, near Paris. Josef has settled down with Adèle... but still dreams of flying. Yet even with his new pilot's license, he lacks the experience that will make the airlines take him seriously. Bored and frustrated, he accepts a job with a flying circus, standing in for an injured pilot. Though extremely dangerous, and despite Adèle's objections, he sees this as a chance to rack up some flying time-and as a first step toward becoming a professional pilot. His goal is to join the new airmail service run by Latécoère, later to become famous as Aéropostale. Its owner plans to extend the service from Toulouse to Dakar-a project fraught with danger... and excitement!

The Aviator - Volume 3 - Airmail to Africa

1917, East Africa. A German pastor-also a doctor, and married to a Frenchwoman-teaches his son Josef to fly the Albatros biplane he uses to visit his rural patients. But the war raging in Europe has spread to Africa, where the Allies are fighting the Germans in their various colonies. Against this backdrop-and strictly against his father's wishes-Josef dreams of flying the nest, and makes a decision that will have terrible consequences...

The Aviator - Volume 1 - Take-off

1920, Paris. The Great War is over, and Josef and his family move to France. To provide for their mother and siblings, Josef and his younger brother Moses find work at the Caudron Brothers airplane factory in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris. Still hoping to become a professional pilot, Josef chases his dream by hanging around the nearby airfield. With a German accent, however, and an apprentice's meager wage, he is a long way from achieving his ambitions. But when he discovers the dubious activities of the gang his brother Moses has become involved with, he sees the means to realize his goal-whatever the consequences might be...

Livres