Robert Mark (or specifically his friend Scott Spangler) has stumbled upon a book called Artful Flying by Michael Maya Charles and Artful Publishing and he proceeds to write a very thoughtful book review about it on JetWhine. Now I must admit that I have not yet read or for that matter have I even thumbed through the book but Rob states in his book review that “Artful Flying will bust your chops if you’re simply an airplane driver because it talks to readers about the philosophy of flying the way the old guys – and girls – used to do it.”
In other words according to Rob, the book’s author does not simply talk about how to fly an airplane but how to:
Smoothly finesse an aircraft – any aircraft – with the skill of an airman who is never satisfied with pretty good. An artful flyer is someone who is in the never ending struggle for perfection, much like an ice skater, a painter or even a NASCAR driver.
Artful Flying isn’t so much about learning a specific technique as it is about attaining aviation nirvana, a Zen state of sorts in the manner a pilot flies the airplane itself during the process…
The book retails for US$35 and Rob states its the best US$35 you can spend – even for diehard aviators or wannabe aviators. Hence, we will take him for his word and definitely purchase a copy of the book.
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