Book review: Skyfaring - A Journey with a Pilot

A British Airways 747. Photo / 123RF

"Flying is hours and hours of boredom sprinkled with a few seconds of sheer terror."

So said Pappy Boyington, American combat pilot and World War II fighter ace and also - on account of the lack of alcohol available - the only man to emerge from a Japanese PoW camp in better health than when he went in.

Today, the boredom of flying remains; the terror too, but it's even less frequent and the consequences less severe. It's unusual to be shot down these days.

But, in an age of low-cost carriers, DVT and crappy movies on crappy little screens, we often lose sight of the old-fashioned wonder of flight. You're a shaved monkey, sitting in a tin can hurtling through the air at a sniff under the speed of sound. Isn't that awesome? Look through the window and be dazzled by the sunset, the sunrise, the clouds and mountain tops below. Your great-grandparents never dreamed of seeing such things.

So how did so many of us lose sight of the awesomeness of flight?

Well, Mark Vanhoenacker hasn't. In Skyfaring, he writes sweetly about the wonder of aviation. The sheer buzz of being in the air. Touchingly, flying is his job. He's a senior first officer with British Airways and the cockpit of a 747 is his office. But this guy doesn't get jaded by the familiarity of his working routine.

He writes - often beautifully - not just about the wonder of being airborne but also about the wonders that make it possible. The book's best bits are the neat passages on the technology and the people that put us above the clouds and keep us there.

This is a stirring read for anyone who likes to fly. It made me look forward to my next departure.

Next time you're flying, take a good long look at the plane before boarding and shake your head in awe at how incredible the whole endeavour is.

Get yourself a window seat. Be amazed. Read this book.