Ask the Pilot takes off

In honor of the publication of his first book, the pilot answers a few more questions ... from his editor.

By Andrew Leonard

Jun 1, 2004 | Not quite three years ago, during the terrible aftermath of 9/11, an unsolicited article on airline security appeared in my e-mail, ostensibly written by an actual pilot. The piece glowed with attributes that would be immediately appealing to any editor: it was smart, provocative, cleanly written and eloquent.

In other words, it needed very little editing, a quality that, as an editor, I find irresistible. Once I had proven to my own superior's satisfaction that yes, the mysterious "P. Smith" was a bona fide airline pilot, little more needed to be done. Salon's readers promptly ratified my belief that Mr. Smith was a darned good writer, and they have been pouring down their praise ever since.

Today, some 88 columns and a half-dozen features later, it gives me great pleasure to brassily announce the publication of Patrick Smith's first book, "Ask The Pilot: Everything You Need To Know About Air Travel." An extension and elaboration of Patrick's work with Salon, "Ask The Pilot" is, despite, its nuts-and-bolts title, a heaping dose of that same smart eloquence that was so recognizable in his first published essays.

Yes, I'm biased -- I'm his editor.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

In your columns, you frequently mention your love of air travel. But your passion doesn't appear to be grounded in the technical joys of piloting -- there seems to be something else going on, a real excitement about going somewhere -- anywhere -- through the air. What exactly has caught and kept your interest in air travel?

The visceral, left-brain act of flying is savored by all pilots, but for me it extends beyond the cockpit. As a kid, it was the airlines themselves that compelled and fascinated me. As I've written, five minutes at an air show watching F-16s and I'd start yawning, but I could spend hours poring over the timetables and route maps of the world's airlines. I'm a throwback, maybe, in the sense that I still see planes as a way of bridging people, cultures and continents.

My passion for aviation came to nurture a passion for travel. I'd never have traipsed off to 50 countries if I hadn't fallen in love with airplanes first. This connection, as anybody who reads my column knows, is something I promote relentlessly. What underpins my columns -- and the book -- is a hope that you, too, will come to see the airplane as more than an inconvenient means to an end.

Next Page: A passion for extirpating air-travel falsehoods

• View blog reactions