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Byron Edgington

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Blogs by Byron Edgington

Book review: There I Wuz
8/4/2014 11:31:36 AM

Ask a pilot...hear a love story.
Here we have a collection of flying tales compiled by a fellow who says of himself that he’s, ‘a pilot by day, writer by night, kid by choice.’ This book proves the assertion on all counts. Not only does it contain flying stories by various aviator/writers that will prove the authors’ creds as pilots, they’ll curl the hair on your neck like a good late-night, Stephen-King-ish mystery, while solidifying the common belief that all pilots are just big kids in charge of very costly toys that leave the ground and (most often but not always) return to the earth again in usable condition.
Auxier is a left-seater, a Captain for ‘a major U.S. airline.’ The author’s other work includes two previous books: The Last Bush Pilots, and Code Name Dodger. This collection of tales from the cockpit includes gems with titles taken from pop culture: ‘Denali Mountain High’; ‘Zen and the Art of Aircraft Maintenance’; ‘The Loon is a Harsh Mistress,’ you get the idea. These are satisfying, instructive, often inspiring tales, all with an undercurrent of some kind. Most of the time that subtle theme lurking below the text concerns the vagaries of the aviation game, not the dangers of it that the public focuses on but the ‘flyin’ biz’ chatter that only a pilot can relate to, but the public ‘inquiring minds’ love to know. Indeed, one of the most telling essays in the book is titled ‘Top 10 downers of an airline pilot career.’ As a former commercial pilot, I found myself nodding in full agreement at all ten, from the restrictions to family time, to subsistence pay, to the reality of commercial aviation’s utter lack of job security. Yet, at the end of this particular piece, the childlike wonder remerges. Auxier—speaking for all pilots, at all times, everywhere—writes at the books beginning, “Ask any pilot how they started flying and you’ll hear a love story” and then he returns to this sentiment after itemizing ten reasons he hates it, with this: “You’re sitting in a chair...in the sky! And getting paid for it!”
The writing is strong, with many of the pieces taken from capnaux.com, Auxier’s flying blog, and articles of his written for NYCAviation.com and Airways Magazine. Some of the pieces in There I Wuz! lack any real flying advice and/or narrative, though the context is flying life and its blandishments. Certain essays reinforce certain stereotypes of pilots in various occupations who, it appears, have earned their reputations quite honestly. Alaskan bush pilots, for example, take chances and flout regulations that can only be read with a degree of awe that those pilots fly as they do, and live to retirement age, despite the exploits depicted herein.
All in all a fun, satisfying grouping of tales from the cockpit, some riveting—like Auxier’s own about the carriage home of a fallen hero—to the mundane if still enjoyable ‘Inflight Undercover Sting Op,’ by Brent Owens. If you like short, engaging flying tales, and enjoy reading insights and the human side of technical careers, you’ll like There I Wuz!

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More Blogs by Byron Edgington
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