Ever wondered what goes on inside the cockpit of a passenger plane? Ever wanted to know how a jet engine works or what happens if a plane is struck by lightning? Behind the Flight Deck Door provides insider knowledge about everything you have ever wanted to ask a pilot! Since 9/11, flight decks of modern airliners have become off-limits to the flying public. This is despite the fact every year more people take to the skies than ever before. Pilot Brett Manders wants to help you become a savvy traveller by providing insider tips, expert knowledge, and an understanding of what goes on behind the scenes to get you up in the air. All told with a dash of humor, this book will demystify the art of airline travel, address those urban legends, and settle the nerves of any anxious flyers. Simple, concise explanations cover a multitude of things passengers have asked Brett and his colleagues over the years. -What is a small technical delay? -Can the cabin door be opened mid-flight? -How much do pilots really earn and do they get free flights? -Can you get stuck to the toilet? -Is it still possible to view the flight deck? Praise for Behind the Flight Deck Door Brett's uncomplicated, honest, and easy to understand book is a welcome addition on any flight. It offers an enlightening point of view of the all-important necessity of air travel with rare glimpses of the secret world airline pilots inhabit. Julie Postance Author, Breaking the Sound Barriers As a nervous flyer myself it was quite interesting and reassuring to read all the different things that go on behind the scenes and learn about the ins and outs of flying. Sarah Emerson. Nervous Flyer Brett Manders is a pilot with an Australian Airline. He has over 10,000 hours flying experience on Airbus A320, A321, A330 and Boeing B787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Emergency is a collection of true stories about events where disaster seems imminent. Yet each situation is concluded without loss of life thanks to the skill of the pilots and their crews, whose bravery and resourcefulness have earned them well-deserved commendations. Written by a British Airways First Officer, Stanley Stewart, who has spoken at first hand with the pilots and crews involved in all the incidents recorded here, the book offers a unique insight into what really happened: not the passengers eye-view, which in many cases is already documented, but the view from the flight deck of the aircraft itself.

Though we routinely take to the air, for many of us flying remains a mystery. Few of us understand the how and why of jetting from New York to London in six hours. How does a plane stay in the air? Can turbulence bring it down? What is windshear? How good are the security checks? Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author of Salon.com's popular column, "Ask the Pilot," unravels the secrets and tells you all there is to know about the strange and fascinating world of commercial flight. He offers: A nuts and bolts explanation of how planes fly Insights into safety and security Straight talk about turbulence, air traffic control, windshear, and crashes The history, color, and controversy of the world's airlines The awe and oddity of being a pilot The poetry and drama of airplanes, airports, and traveling abroad In a series of frank, often funny explanations and essays, Smith speaks eloquently to our fears and curiosities, incorporating anecdotes, memoir, and a life's passion for flight. He tackles our toughest concerns, debunks conspiracy theories and myths, and in a rarely heard voice dares to return a dash of romance and glamour to air travel.

Get in and fasten your seatbelt. Ready for take-off! Have you ever asked yourself why airplane windows have a small hole? Why your digestive system makes itself known with particular vigor high up in the air? If turbulence is actually as dangerous as it feels? Wouldn't it be great to have these questions answered by someone who actually sits up front in the cockpit? Impossible? Not anymore! Experienced Pilot Hans-Georg Rabacher takes you on board with him and provides exciting insights into the world of flying. The various topics explained in an easy-to-understand manner are ideal for all those interested in aviation. No matter whether you have never set foot in an airplane or fly regularly - many interesting details are waiting to be discovered!

**Sunday Times Bestseller** **Book of the Week on Radio 4** 'A beautiful book about a part of the modern world which remains genuinely magical’ Mark Haddon 'One of the most constantly fascinating, but consistently under-appreciated aspects of modern life is the business of flying. Mark Vanhoenacker has written the ideal book on the subject: a description of what it’s like to fly by a commercial pilot who is also a master prose stylist and a deeply sensitive human being. This is a man who is at once a technical expert – he flies 747s across continents – and a poet of the skies. This couldn’t be more highly recommended.' Alain de Botton Think back to when you first flew. When you first left the Earth, and travelled high and fast above its turning arc. When you looked down on a new world, captured simply and perfectly through a window fringed with ice. When you descended towards a city, and arrived from the sky as effortlessly as daybreak. In Skyfaring, airline pilot and flight romantic Mark Vanhoenacker shares his irrepressible love of flying, on a journey from day to night, from new ways of mapmaking and the poetry of physics to the names of winds and the nature of clouds. Here, anew, is the simple wonder that remains at the heart of an experience which modern travellers, armchair and otherwise, all too easily take for granted: the transcendent joy of motion, and the remarkable new perspectives that height and distance bestow on everything we love. ‘A beautiful, contemplative book... What Skyfaring gives is something we need: elevation; another perspective... Normally when I find a volume where prose style and subject matter fuse so pleasingly, I tear through it in a day. Here, I found myself pausing on almost every page, as I absorbed its detail or phrasing.’ Nicholas Lezard, Guardian **A 2015 Book of the Year – The Economist, The New York Times, GQ and more**