So You Want to Be a Commercial Airline Pilot puts you inside the cockpit of a modern-day airliner for an insider s look at one of the most glamorized, yet deadly professions in the world. What makes an airline captain, and how did they end up flying your plane? What makes air travel dangerous, and what makes it safe? Do you have what it takes to command a jet costing over one hundred million dollars, and, more importantly, can you accept the life-long challenge of keeping the flying public safe? This book explains everything from getting your education to passing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) practical test. With the job market only growing, and the average salary being over six figures, this might be the perfect career for the adrenaline-hunting, risk-taking, and thrill-seeking young adult. Sit down, and strap in this book will take you on the adventurous ride of becoming a commercial airline pilot.
A poetic and nuanced exploration of the human experience of flight that reminds us of the full imaginative weight of our most ordinary journeys—and reawakens our capacity to be amazed. The twenty-first century has relegated airplane flight—a once remarkable feat of human ingenuity—to the realm of the mundane. Mark Vanhoenacker, a 747 pilot who left academia and a career in the business world to pursue his childhood dream of flight, asks us to reimagine what we—both as pilots and as passengers—are actually doing when we enter the world between departure and discovery. In a seamless fusion of history, politics, geography, meteorology, ecology, family, and physics, Vanhoenacker vaults across geographical and cultural boundaries; above mountains, oceans, and deserts; through snow, wind, and rain, renewing a simultaneously humbling and almost superhuman activity that affords us unparalleled perspectives on the planet we inhabit and the communities we form.
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.
This is a book about learning to be a pilot and the daily routine of flying. You begin on the ground, but leap immediately into the sky to soar gracefully with the eagles. Legal and medical requirements are spelled out clearly. An early chapter teaches you the names for new and exciting things in the world of aviation. Knowing the words will make you feel comfortable in this exciting and wonderful new world you are entering. Very soon you are in the middle of a typical lesson plan, where you progress in logical steps from pre-flight inspection to graduation. Diagrams and illustrations make you understand and enjoy learning how to fly airplanes. After graduating from the course and receiving your credentials, you find the next chapters are about the lives of aviators. Each episode teaches a very real lesson in aircraft handling and survival in the sky. This is a book for any person interested in becoming a pilot. It belongs in every public library. This is an invaluable guide to understanding an extremely difficult subject. There is no factual reference work like this. Here it is within one volume. It is the information you need to become a pilot. This book is filled with definitions and references. Arcane and esoteric subjects are clearly explained. All mystery is forever removed from the subject of aviation. Something unique sets this work apart. More than half the book is filled with exciting stories about working pilots in the real world of aviation.
The classic first analysis of the art of flying is back, now in a special 50th anniversary limited edition with a foreword by Cliff Robertson. leatherette binding, and gold foil stamp. Langewiesche shows precisely what the pilot does when he or she flies, just how it's done, and why.
BOOK DESCRIPTION FOR BOOK’S PAGE ON THE XLIBRIS WEB SITE In 2003, William Oscar Jones had become totally dissatisfied with the senseless and no thrilling productions of Hollywood. Time and time again he had watched movies with senseless scenes and non-dramatic endings. So William set out in the spring of 2003 to produce a better movie by writing a book that he felt would reflect the true qualities of a satisfactory movie. First of all, William desired to write a book where every scene would relate to the theme, title, and ending. He wanted a book that would convey moral principles and teach valuable lessons. As a man of little income, William was very familiar with the day to day difficulties of the common man. So he wanted to write a book that would appeal to the common man as well as the rich. The idea for William’s book Circles started in January of 2003, while William and his fellow security officer were conversing in front of the home of the World Bank president. William and his associate were parked in a security vehicle guarding the president’s house when William made the statements, “The president could at least send his maid to us with glasses of water or food. I wonder how he would feel if he were out here in this cramped vehicle and we showed no concern for his welfare?” From those statements developed the theme for William’s book Circles—a rich man replacing the position of a poor man. The thoughts of that conversation had disappeared by spring of that year, until William saw his fifth and final dissatisfying movie. After seeing that movie, William became frustrated and thought to himself, “If Hollywood can’t produce a movie decent enough to satisfy me, then hell, I will satisfy myself.” William knew that he could write a better movie than the ones he had witness. So in the spring of 2003, William set out to write a book, and as he thought about various themes, the conversation he had had in January came back to mind and the theme for Circles was born. William had interacted with many wealthy people through his job at World Bank and as a caterer for a popular Indian restaurant in Washington, DC, and he had developed a strong dislike for them. He did not dislike wealthy people simply out of envy, but through his interactions with them, William discovered that most people of wealth have very little moral character and concern for people less fortunate than they. He discovered that most wealthy people are proud and arrogant and feel that they are better than the average person. So, after experiencing both sides, rich life and poor life, William decided to write a book that would appeal to both readers, rich and poor. So came Circles. Circles is a story about a young man name John Sellers, who by nature is a kind and caring kid. But due to the effects of his racist father, who is a member of Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, John grows to become a cruel and racist young man. John’s biological father eventually dies, and John’s mother Kate remarries to an extremely moral man name Peter Braxton. Peter takes on the task of trying to reverse the racist and cruel ways of John, but Peter would eventually learn that John is too deeply rooted into the racist ways of his father. After training and instilling in John all the moral principles that he could, Peter gave up on what seemed to be a hopeless effort, and he warned John that one day his evil ways would come back to haunt him. John’s last name became Braxton after his adoption by Peter Braxton, and later in life he becomes a billionaire, the world’s third wealthiest person. John would eventually encounter a tragedy that would reduce him to the level of a bum, and the only people who would be willing to assist him are the very people that he had once abused and despised. After being redeemed by this experience, John would ultimately become the truly kind person that he really is and
