The View From Seat 4B

I love the aisle seat on planes, no matter if the refreshment cart gets me in the shoulder every time, there is something comforting believing I could escape should something happen in flight. But, where is the best seat on a plane? What do pilots really do on those long hauls? Experienced airline pilot Ace Abbott will be able to tell you this and more at Burlingame Public Library on Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Lane Community Room.

Abbott, the author of The Rogue Aviator: In the Back Alleys of Aviation, started his aviation career flying an F-4 Phantom in 1965, moving on to being a LearJet corporate and charter pilot, and ending his flying career with many years piloting a Boeing 727. He will put you in the cockpit of the F-4 Phantom for exhilarating Mach 2 test flights and pulse-racing, treetop-level formation flights. Abbott's Learjet charter stories will take you to five-star hotels and restaurants in Paris, jails in Venezuela and greasy, noisy, air cargo ramps. The final journey encompasses a 22-year adventure as a Boeing 727 Captain with nearly a dozen different airlines during the unstable years of airline post-deregulation (1978 to present).

This event is free and open to the public and is funded by the Burlingame Library Foundation.

Fasten your seat belts!