Liam || Books 'n Beards's Reviews > Skyfaring

Norway, too, was another surprise on routes to Japan that gave us this country from end to Norwegian end. To the north of a continent crowded with smallish countries, it is a fully two hour land.

France, at the angles I most often cross it, is one hour - as are the states Texas and Montana.

With a healthy tailwind, Belgium is a fifteen minute country.

Like a lot of people I rediscovered my love of flight with the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator during the depths of COVID. I've recently picked it back up again in a big way (almost embarassingly so) and was interested in a pilot's memoir.

It is surprisingly difficult to find a civil aviation memoir - most are combat pilots - but SKYFARING popped up a couple of times in recommended lists, so I picked it up.

I enjoyed this well enough, Vanhoenacker has a way with words and his experiences as an Airbus and then 747 pilot - the Queen of the Skies! - are undeniably interesting.

This is what I will tell my friends and family about this, my first non-training flight; that I saw the lights of all Bahgdad pass by in the night, and then ate a sandwich.

Unfortunately, it feels a little disjointed. It hops back and forth between various musings about the concept of 'place-lag' - when you so often change cities, cultures, etc. and your brain doesn't know how to process it - to some general anecdotes about his training and career advancement.

When a crew meet for the first time, we know only two things about eachother; that we've each met the standards for our roles, and it's almost time to go.

Unfortunately when I was looking for airline pilot books, I wasn't looking for somewhat underbaked meandering philosophy of flight, but more.. 'hard' details about the job of a pilot, what it's like spending most of your life 30,000 feet above the earth, and how it relates to my simulated attempts to land a 737 without cracking the landing gear.

Still, it was easy listening, thoughtful, and interesting in its own way - just not what I was after when I picked it up.