A New York Times bestseller
For millions of people, travel by air is a confounding, uncomfortable, and even fearful experience. Patrick Smith, airline pilot and author of the web's popular Ask the Pilot feature, separates the fact from fallacy and tells you everything you need to know...
?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
Cockpit Confidential covers not only the nuts and bolts of flying, but also the grand theater of air travel, from airport architecture to inflight service to the excitement of travel abroad. It's a thoughtful, funny, at times deeply personal look into the strange and misunderstood world of commercial flying.
It's the ideal book for frequent flyers, nervous passengers, and global travelers.
Refreshed and vastly expanded from the original Ask the Pilot, with approximately 75 percent new material.
"Smith's graceful writing and clear explanations will make your next flight more of an interesting experience than a chore to be endured." - Rudy Maxa, host of public television & radio's "Rudy Maxa's World"
If you're a white-knuckle flyer, this informative, comprehensive book on air travel is for you...Smith paints an unflinching portrait of modern air travel with several fresh and unexpected insights.
No matter how much you've read or how much you know, I guarantee you, you haven't heard this perspective on piloting, airline livery, history or security before. - Christine Negroni
With so many insights gained from a long career in aviation and a genuine ability to write captain Smith has written "the" go to book on air travel.
"Cockpit Confidential" offers a series of discussions and essays by Patrick Smith, a commercial airline pilot and travel writer...Smith covers all aspects of air travel, from airport security to airline identity...He provides answers to questions many of us have wondered about...He also offers words of encouragement to those who are terrified of flying.
Smith provides a very thorough and sensationalism-free explanation, mostly in layman's terms... Readers will definitely get their frequent flyer miles out of this one.
Nearly every question I had about the aviation part of flying was answered in this book...A great, fun read for everyone who flies.
The book, "Cockpit Confidential" Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel, is a mix of questions and answers about air travel plus personal essays that give the reader an insight into the aviation industry and the realities of being a pilot.
Neither an industry apologist nor a cheerleader, Mr. Smith says his book is intended to let frequent fliers and fearful fliers know that "everything you think you know about flying is wrong."..He also explains, in plain English, what causes turbulence, how the world's worst plane crashes happened and the intricacies of our antiquated air-traffic control system.
Anyone who wants to know more about airline safety, airline dangers, airline realities, and overall how the world looks to people who know aviation from the inside should read, now, Patrick Smith's "Cockpit Confidential".
