Though we routinely take to the air, for many of us flying remains a mystery. Few of us understand the how and why of jetting from New York to London in six hours. How does a plane stay in the air? Can turbulence bring it down? What is windshear? How good are the security checks? Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author of Salon.com's popular column, "Ask the Pilot," unravels the secrets and tells you all there is to know about the strange and fascinating world of commercial flight. He offers:
- A nuts and bolts explanation of how planes fly
- Insights into safety and security
- Straight talk about turbulence, air traffic control, windshear, and crashes
- The history, color, and controversy of the world's airlines
- The awe and oddity of being a pilot
- The poetry and drama of airplanes, airports, and traveling abroad
In a series of frank, often funny explanations and essays, Smith speaks eloquently to our fears and curiosities, incorporating anecdotes, memoir, and a life's passion for flight. He tackles our toughest concerns, debunks conspiracy theories and myths, and in a rarely heard voice dares to return a dash of romance and glamour to air travel.
Ask the Pilot
Author's Note and Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Painter's Brush
1. Things About Wings and Why Knots?
Airfleets For Neophytes
Airfoiled—the art of wings and keeping aloft · A primer on moving parts · Aerobatics in a 747? · Turbines and turbofans—an intro to jets and props · No engines? Can we glide to a landing? · Boeing versus Airbus · Too hot to handle, too high to fly? · Those white lines—clouds or conspiracy?
2. Turbulence for Tyros: Windshear, Weather, and Elements of Unease
Up to Speed—The Promise and Peril of Concorde
Turbulence and windshear · Pressurization—how, why, and what if it's lost? · How can ice crash a plane? · The truth about toilet water · Are we flying with broken parts? · Aging planes—how old is too old?
3. What Goes Up . . . Takeoffs, Landings, and the Mysterious Between
Idlewild, Roanoke, and Timbuktu Too
Into the wind and backwards to boot · Takeoff trauma and the climbout cutback · V-what? · A runway nightmare—fact or fiction? · From whence the aborted takeoff? For what the aborted landing? · Foggy notions and crooked landings—finding the ground · Those mysteriously missing thunderstorms · SCROD, WOPPO, BOSOX, and Gardner·The biggest and busiest airports · To HEL and back
4. Are You Experienced? The Awe and Oddity of Piloting
The Exploding Toilet And Other Embarrassments
Labor and loathing—the myth and mirth of pilot salaries · Pilots and copilots—what's the difference and what do they do? · The workday commute—New Zealand to Atlanta? · Where are the women? · Secrets of skill · Are you irrelevant? · Is there a future in pilotless planes? · Up, locked, and loaded—guns in the cockpit · Flight deck fatigue—are the pilots sleeping?
5. Life in the Cabin
Terrorism, Tweezers, and Terminal Madness
Class warfare: Where am I sitting and what's the difference? · Do pilots cut airflow to save fuel? Do they reduce oxygen to keep me docile? · Cell phones, laptops, and headphones · Those damn dings · Are we really cleared to land? · The briefing babble · Tray tables, window shades, safety belts, and seatbacks · The skinny on seats
6. . . . Must Come Down: Disasters, Mishaps, and Fatuous Flights of Fancy
En Route Angst And The Psychology of Fear
The ten worst crashes in history · Those dangerous foreign airlines? · Cockpits and culture · Fallacies and flotation—getting to know your life jacket · Crackpots and conspiracy · The true and false of shoulder-fired missiles · Crewless catastrophe—can a passenger land the plane? · Soft walls and other lousy ideas
7. To Fly To Serve
Mourning the Cheat Line
The oldest, biggest, best, and worst carriers · What, no Africa? · Small countries, big airlines · Red-eye rationale · A code-share primer · The world's longest flight · Flight numbers, Shamrocks, Clippers, and Cacti
