Ricky the Explorer:
Takes a Magic Flight

Ages 6–10 · A picture book · By Ricardo Foster

Before the Blueprint, there was the boy. A story carrying the Tuskegee legacy and Red Tail Roost spirit into words a five-year-old can hold onto.

Tell me when pre-orders open (833) FLY-STEM

The story

Ricky is grieving the loss of his great-grandfather, William — the man he called William the Great. When a neighbor's restored P-51 becomes a doorway back to 1927, Ricky meets a boy named Billy, working in a hangar to help build the Spirit of St. Louis.

By the time the plane's engine catches, Ricky understands who Billy really is, and carries home the same words his great-grandfather always told him: when a person puts their mind to it, pretty much anything can happen.

By Ricardo Foster, LCDR USN (Ret.). Coming soon through Mission Aviation Academy.

Red Tail Roost

Ricky the Explorer is part of the Red Tail Roost educational program — a traveling Tuskegee Airmen aviation tribute and youth STEM outreach initiative under Mission Aviation Academy. The book carries that mission into the hands of the youngest readers.

The Ricky the Explorer Series

1Takes a Magic Flight This book · Nov 2026

2The Tuskegee Airmen Coming Soon · Announced Nov 2

3Bessie Coleman Coming Soon

Be first in line

Pre-orders open October 26, 2026. Leave your name and we'll email you the moment they do — nothing before that.

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Book details

Ages

6–10

Pre-order opens

October 26, 2026

Release date

November 16, 2026

Format

Paperback

ISBN

979-8-9967339-0-3

Publisher

Mission Aviation Academy