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About Patrick
About Ask the Pilot
A book by Patrick Smith
More than ever, air travel is a focus of curiosity, intrigue and anxiety. We take to the air routinely, yet few of us understand the how and why of jetting from New York to London in six hours. Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author of Salon.com's popular air travel column, unravels the secrets and tells you all there is to know about the strange and fascinating world of commercial flight.
- Insights into safety, security, and the nuts and bolts of how planes fly
- Straight talk on turbulence, air traffic control, windshear and crashes
- The history, color and controversy of the world's airlines
- The awe and oddity of piloting
- The poetry and drama of airplanes, airports, and travelling abroad
Patrick speaks eloquently to our fears and curiosities, incorporating anecdotes, memoir, and a life's passion for flight. He tackles your toughest concerns, debunks conspiracies and urban myths, and in a rarely heard voice dares to return a dash of romance and glamor to air travel.
Ask the Pilot: Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel
Introduction: The Painter's Brush
- Things About Wings and Why Knots
- Turbulence for Tyros -Weather, Windshear, and the Elements of Unease
- What Goes Up....Takeoffs , Landings, and The Mysterious Between
- Are You Experienced....The Awe and Oddity of Piloting
- Life in the Cabin
- ....Must Come Down - Disasters, Mishaps, and Fatuous Flights of Fancy
- To Fly To Serve - the Airlines
Click here to read an excerpt from the book: "Terrorism, Tweezers, and Terminal Madness -- An essay on Airport Security"
Available at your favorite online or local bookstore. Or click here to order.
