I haven’t had the honor of meeting Patrick Smith in person (yet), but I have his “Ask the Pilot” book on my shelf, followed his column on Salon.com and am delighted that he answers my emails and picks up the phone when I need a pilot’s perspective for a story I’m working on.
The last time I quoted Smith in a story, his AskthePilot.com website was being revamped and the link I shared with readers brought up one of those “Come back later” screens.
But now the site has been officially re-launched with a blog feature, a questions and answers section about things anyone who flies might wonder about and a collection of his essays, including “What’s the matter with airports?” which includes a nice list of 15 things no terminal should be without.
(Photo above of Smith’s retired flight case. Courtesy Globe Trodden)