Ask the Pilot

"Anyone remotely afraid of flying should read this book, as should anyone who appreciates good writing and the value of great information." - The New York Times Book Review

A Book by Patrick Smith

Published by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group (USA).

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

1. Things About Wings and Why Knots
2. Turbulence for Tyros -Weather, Windshear, and the Elements of Unease
3. What Goes Up....Takeoffs , Landings, and The Mysterious Between
4. Are You Experienced? The Awe and Oddity of Piloting
5. Life in the Cabin
6. ....Must Come Down - Disasters, Mishaps, and Fatuous Flights of Fancy
7. To Fly To Serve - the Airlines

Click here to read an excerpt: "Terrorism, Tweezers, and Terminal Madness -- An essay on Airport Security"

Available at bookstores everywhere

For signed copies, click here

Best Travel Book of 2004 - Editor's Picks and Customer Favorites

"Anyone remotely afraid of flying should read this book, as should anyone who appreciates good writing and the value of great information."

"Brilliantly down to earth and reassuring.

"What a pleasure it is reading Patrick Smith's surprisingly elegant explanations and commentary. The world needs somebody writing E.B. White simple and sensible about a topic EVERYONE has a question about.

"Patrick Smith is extraordinarily knowledgeable about modern aviation, and communicates beautifully in English, not in pilotese. The ideal seatmate and explainer."

"Patrick Smith is one of the best writers around, period, which certainly makes him the best writer ever to have earned a commercial pilot's license. Ask the Pilot is deliciously stylish and informative. A soaring accomplishment, and an indispensable book for anyone who travels by air, which means everyone."

"Smith has both aviation expertise and the ability to write with sassy intelligence, which turns out to be a winning combination for this book on the weird and fascinating world of commercial flying."

"Smith's brief essays cover a huge range of topics, and he speaks to airplane enthusiasts, disgruntled travelers, extreme aerophobes, and the merely curious...addressing everything from post 9/11 security concerns to economy-class seating woes with optimism and humor..."

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Last revised September 3, 2007.