Best Commercial Aviation

•How planes fly, and a revealing look at the men and women who fly them. •Straight talk on turbulence, pilot training, and safety. •The real story on congestion, delays, and the dysfunction of the modern airport. •The myths and misconceptions of cabin air and cockpit automation. •Terrorism in perspective, and a provocative look at security. •Airfares, seating woes, and the pitfalls of airline customer service. •The colors and cultures of the airlines we love to hate. “Patrick Smith is extraordinarily knowledgeable about modern aviation, and communicates beautifully in English, not in pilot-ese. “A brilliant writer, Patrick Smith provides a laugh-a-page tour of a misunderstood industry -- a journey into the world of aviation, stripped of the mumbo-jumbo and filled with humor and insight.”. -- Christine Negroni, aviation correspondent and author of Flying Lessons. "Patrick Smith doesn’t just know everything about air travel, he possesses a rare knack for explaining it in lucid and witty prose." “Patrick Smith manages to demystify the experience and remind us of the magic of aviation.

Drawing on interviews with hundreds of survivors, crew, and airport and rescue personnel, Laurence Gonzales, a commercial pilot himself, captures, minute by minute, the harrowing journey of pilots flying a plane with no controls and flight attendants keeping their calm in the face of certain death. He plumbs the hearts and minds of passengers as they pray, bargain with God, plot their strategies for survival, and sacrifice themselves to save others. He also goes back through records, scientific documents, and his own experience as a pilot and aviation reporter to piece together what went wrong with the jetliner that was as majestic (and, ultimately, doomed) as the Titanic. As you might expect, there was plenty of terror on Flight 232, but what is surprising is how much inspiring behavior Gonzales discovered there as well--flight attendants who truly did put the passengers’ needs first, crew members whose quick thinking probably made the crash less devastating than it would have been, not to mention the plain dumb luck in evidence, as well--at least one woman moved out of first class at the last minute. Gonzales (Surviving Survival, 2012) revisits the crash of United Flight 232 in this gripping narrative that includes numerous survivor accounts as well as insight from those in the Sioux City control tower, rescue personnel, and specialists who worked for months to determine the cause.

In “The Plane That Wasn't There,” science journalist and CNN Aviation Analyst Jeff Wise sweeps aside the conspiracy theories and misconceptions and lays out with clear concision just what we know about the plane’s fate—and what we don’t. He proposes that in order to make sense of the data we have, a radical new hypothesis ought to be considered—one which he lays out in gripping detail, complete with modus operandi, flight path, possible perpetrators, and a startling destination.

Topics covered include aeronautical decision making, aircraft construction, principles of flight, aerodynamics of flight, flight controls, aircraft systems, flight instruments, flight manuals and other documents, weight and balance, aircraft performance, weather theory, aviation weather services, airport operations, airspace, navigation, and aeromedical factors. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the government agency that oversees and regulates procedural standards for the aviation industry.

In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” ( The Economist ), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” ( The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” ( The Wall Street Journal ). Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished… The Wright Brothers soars” ( The New York Times Book Review ). An Amazon Best Book of May 2015: Most people recognize the famous black-and-white photo of the Wright brothers on a winter day in 1903, in a remote spot called Kitty Hawk, when they secured their place in history as the first to fly a motor-powered airplane. That brilliant moment is the cornerstone of the new masterful book by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, who brings his deft touch with language and his eye for humanizing details to the unusually close relationship between a pair of brothers from Dayton, Ohio, who changed aviation history. Bicycle shop owners by day, Wilbur and Orville taught themselves flight theory through correspondence with the Smithsonian and other experts. But the brothers soon realized that theory was no match for practical testing, and they repeatedly risked life and limb in pursuit of their goal—including when Orville fractured a leg and four ribs in a 75-foot plunge to the ground. McCullough’s narration of ventures such as this—their famous first flight at Kitty Hawk; the flight in Le Mans, France that propelled the brothers to international fame; the protracted patent battles back at home; and the early death of elder brother Wilbur—will immerse readers in the lives of the Wright family. The Wright Brothers soars.” (Daniel Okrent The New York Times Book Review). “David McCullough has etched a brisk, admiring portrait of the modest, hardworking Ohioans who designed an airplane in their bicycle shop and solved the mystery of flight on the sands of Kitty Hawk, N.C. Mr. McCullough is in his element writing about seemingly ordinary folk steeped in the cardinal American virtues—self-reliance and can-do resourcefulness.” (Roger Lowenstein The Wall Street Journal). Mr. McCullough presents all this with dignified panache, and with detail so granular you may wonder how it was all collected.” (Janet Maslin The New York Times). "McCullough’s magical account of [the Wright Brothers'] early adventures — enhanced by volumes of family correspondence, written records, and his own deep understanding of the country and the era — shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly." But it’s also a story that resonates with anyone who believes deeply in the power of technology to change lives – and the resistance some have to new innovations.” (Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google ). With his ear for dialect and eye for detail, McCullough puts the Wrights in historical context, flushed out by vivid portraits of their loyal father and sister. "McCullough's usual warm, evocative prose makes for an absorbing narrative; he conveys both the drama of the birth of flight and the homespun genius of America's golden age of innovation." "McCullough shows the Wright brothers (snubbed by the British as mere bicycle mechanics) for the important technoscientists they were. The United States honors David McCullough for his lifelong efforts to document the people, places, and events that have shaped America.” (From The Presidential Medal of Freedom Citation).

Written in typical no-nonsense style, it lays out the basis of Mike's “minimalist” maintenance philosophy for owner-flown general aviation aircraft. In 2008, he was honored by the FAA as “National Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year.” Mike has been a prolific aviation writer for more than four decades.