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Summary: An amazing look into the future of travel
Review: I first came across James Fallows's ideas about flying in an Atlantic Monthly piece and was fascinated in this new book with his ideas about the future of air travel. The concept of personal air taxis is apparently not farfetched at all. And the inconvenience we all endure by traveling hub-and-spoke through several dozen airports is unnecessary - a real revelation - as he points out that 6000 other airports have over 90% of their capacity unused.The book pokes holes in so many of the current arguments and proposed solutions for our air transport mess while highlighting the role of NASA - not the FAA or Boeing - as creative promoters of the future of sub-satellite transportation - something I'd never realized. The book makes me want to do what he did - learn to fly, get a plane and escape from commercial airline chaos - into my own skies that are friendlier than theirs. Buy it, read it and be amazed.
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Summary: A glimpse into the (potential) future of general aviation
Review: I was really excited about this book: I'm a serious aviation enthusiast and an admirer of James Fallows' writing over the past several years. In *Free Flight* Fallows reveals himself to be an enthusiastic promoter of general aviation. Fallows begins by helping readers unfamiliar with small airplanes understand a little bit about the strange world of private pilots and their buzzy little machines. He paints a clear picture of the world of aviation enthusiasts--and what it potentially has to offer to the general public. The book is devoted primarily to the topic of research and development that has been going on since the early 90s aimed at making small airplanes safer and more accessible to the general population. The book closely examines two new aircraft manufacturers at the forefront of these developments (Cirrus Design and Eclipse Aviation) as well as some of the visionaries within NASA and other government agencies who have been promoting a concept of safe, affordable travel between secondary airports that skirts the congestion and delays of today's hub-spoke airline system. Finally, Fallows chronicles a trip of his own in one of these advanced small airplanes. Fallows skillfully avoids the worst of the aviation technical jargon, and brings the subject to life through portraits of some of the very interesting people at work in the field. For all of his cheerleading for the future of accessible general aviation Fallows also gives a fairly realistic assessment of the risks to this vision, though he devotes far less ink to the negative side of his subject. Whether you're an aviation enthusiast, private pilot, or just a frustrated airline passenger *Free Flight* has much to offer. Let's hope that the future is as bright as Fallows suggests it can be.
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Summary: A Wonderful-- and Illuminating-- Read!
Review: In a fascinating combination of memoir and reportage, Fallows convinced me that there *is* a way out of the vicious spiral in which commercial aviation has been locked for the last two decades-- and that we can once again *enjoy* flying! An elegantly (and wonderfully-enjoyably) written book, it unveils an entirely-possible future that was altogether new to me (and altogether absent from "official" discussions of the future of air travel). A must read for those of us-- all of us-- who depend on commercial aviation.
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Summary: A civilian flying towards enthusiast
Review: In James Fallows "free flight" he divides us into two categories when it comes to our interest in flying and planes. Enthusiast are those people, mostly males, that love the planes, the process of flying, the technology, and the lore of aviation. I trust all pilots are enthusiasts. The rest of us are civilians when it comes to planes and flying. I certainly am only a civilian. I have come to loath the hub and spoke commercial aviation system that has developed in this country. Fallows describes several things that are occurring that should modernize the air transportation system for a great many of us. I found myself excited about these new developments. I even can cite the different planes that will make air travel safe, fun, and convenient again. The Cirrus SR-20 with its parachute appears to be a great acheivement. Also the Eclipse jets are something I can not wait to see and eventually fly in. This book should be read by all of us who have ever flown. Also, city planners who have anything to do with transportation systems in their towns will find this book most interesting. Fallows has convinced me that the disruptive technology is here for the aviation industry. As the disruption occurs I will now understand why it is happening.
Rating:
Summary: A civilian flying towards enthusiast
Review: In James Fallows "free flight" he divides us into two categories when it comes to our interest in flying and planes. Enthusiast are those people, mostly males, that love the planes, the process of flying, the technology, and the lore of aviation. I trust all pilots are enthusiasts. The rest of us are civilians when it comes to planes and flying. I certainly am only a civilian. I have come to loath the hub and spoke commercial aviation system that has developed in this country. Fallows describes several things that are occurring that should modernize the air transportation system for a great many of us. I found myself excited about these new developments. I even can cite the different planes that will make air travel safe, fun, and convenient again. The Cirrus SR-20 with its parachute appears to be a great acheivement. Also the Eclipse jets are something I can not wait to see and eventually fly in. This book should be read by all of us who have ever flown. Also, city planners who have anything to do with transportation systems in their towns will find this book most interesting. Fallows has convinced me that the disruptive technology is here for the aviation industry. As the disruption occurs I will now understand why it is happening.
Rating: 
Summary: Free Flight Disappoints
Review: James Fallows says his new book "Free Flight" is about how to solve air travel gridlock with technically advanced general aviation airplanes (thus the lengthy subtitle "From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel"). Nonsense. "Free Flight" is a chronicle of the author's personal fascination with all things aviation. Fallows spends most of the book detailing his personal aviation experiences, including his flying lessons, his spiffy new airplane, his flying buddies, et al. This is good fun for pilots, especially GA pilots, but I doubt there is much use or appeal to a broader audience. To the extent that the book spends much time at all on the topic of modern air travel, many of the author's contentions seem outright silly. Fallows devotes dozens of pages (and the book's cover) to the Cirrus SR20 in the belief that it will have a major impact on the future of air travel. Granted, the Cirrus is a fantastic aircraft, but it designed for GA needs and simply not suitable for commercial operation (total number of SR20s in use by commercial carriers: ZERO). True, a new breed of airplanes are reinventing air travel, but these "regional" aircraft are from companies such as Bombardier and Embraer, which sell hundreds of airplanes to fast-growing carriers like SkyWest and Mesaba. Fallows simply never establishes his main point, that GA will have a leading role in improving air travel, and he ignores altogether the many new companies and aircraft that are slowly improving what the author calls "Airline Hell". As a pilot and aviation enthusiast I found several enjoyable moments in "Free Flight". However, I suspect the broader audience the author seeks will find little in the way of contributions to the air travel discussion, and may simply be left wondering how the normally excellent James Fallows could have produced such a confusing mess.
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Summary: We must take a fresh post-September 11 look at "Free Flight"
Review: James Fallows' superb book must be totally reevaluated after the terrorists attacks of September 11. Previous to that horrifying date, some may have wrongly concluded that Fallows was merely presenting another opportunity for the affluent Yuppie class to indulge in conspicuous consumption. Purchasing a small airplane still remains a luxury affordable by perhaps less than 2% of the general population. The small plane business model could compete against standard air travel pricing, but not the very inexpensive tickets that permit the very poor to fly. Our current national crisis, however, compels Americans to seriously look at all of their viable travel alternatives. Small planes have become a more practical and less risky way to move around the country. This is especially true for flights under 500 miles. Airport security measures will significantly increase traveling time. A smaller plane has fewer passengers, and therefore a thorough security check should at least theoretically take only a few minutes. Companies may also feel more comfortable knowing that their top executives are not on board a larger airliner. Internet guru Esther Dyson said that "this book makes you want to go out and put down a deposit on one of the new aircraft." I suspect that Dyson originally made this remark dwelling only upon the aspect of added convenience. My gut impression is Ms. Dyson today thinks that she would be safer sitting behind the controls of her own airplane. The smaller fuel tanks of the these airplanes limit their attractiveness to those embracing the terrorist mindset. These planes simply cannot be used as something akin to a cruise missile to destroy large buildings and major military targets. Also, pilots are well aware that they will be shot down if they deviate away from their assigned travel route. The U.S. Air Force is essentially being told to shoot first, and ask questions later! The distinguished journalist James Fallows had no idea that this book would be released only a few months before America went to war. We should be thankful that Mr. Fallows has performed this valuable service. "Free Flight" easily earns a five star recommendation.
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Summary: INSPIRED BY YOUR WORDS, WE ARE SPENDING $50 MILLION
Review: James, thanks for an insight-full of visionary disruptive technology. Your book reminds me of “future shock” written in the early 70’s by Alvin Toffler. He, as you, wrote about changes that will shock the world.... Cheers! Lucien Lallouz
Rating:
Summary: INSPIRED BY YOUR WORDS, WE ARE SPENDING $50 MILLION
Review: James, thanks for an insight-full of visionary disruptive technology. Your book reminds me of “future shock” written in the early 70’s by Alvin Toffler. He, as you, wrote about changes that will shock the world.... Cheers! Lucien Lallouz
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Summary: Flights of the imagination
Review: Set against the authors account of an enjoyable flight across the states in his Cirrus SR20 private plane, FREE FLIGHT has captured the imagination of general aviation pilots by offering a vision of what we dream of - the dawning of a new age in aviation with new technologies and designs bringing about better, more comfortable, and safer private planes. The book appeals to a broader audience than the thousands of us that are private pilots and small plane aficionados; it is for the millions of us who have, at some time, experienced "airline hell." We know this purgatory: long commutes to airports, endless check-in lines, frequent delays at the terminal or waiting on the taxiways. The author asks "how can a system be so technically advanced and admirable, yet lead to results so unpleasant for everyone?" The reason is the hub-and-spoke system operated by commercial airlines with the large carriers delivering passengers to big-city terminals and smaller commuter airlines serving the spoke routes to smaller cities. The book reveals that for many years now air traffic has grown nearly twice as fast as the economy, yet at the same time the large carriers have reduced the number of cities they serve, from over 450 in the late 1970's to 268 in 1998. The solution, the author says, is with "air-taxis" and affordable private planes, operating from the many secondary airports scattered across the country. Fully 98% of us live within a 30 minute drive of one of these public use airports and in the near future we may be able to hop on an air taxi or fly ourselves to our destination. Two companies that are betting on this future are mentioned in the book. Eclipse makes a small, 5-8 seat, twin-jet, commuter plane that will travel at 375 mph; more importantly it will cost about $1 million, a quarter of the cost of the typical corporate jet. Cirrus Designs makes 5 seater, single engined, piston driven GA plane that is more comfortable, better designed, and safer than the existing Cessna's, and Beech's. On the matter of safety, Cirrus is unique. The SR series employs an aircraft parachute that in an extreme emergency can be deployed to allow the plane to safely float to a landing. Look at the illustration on the cover of the book - that's not some imaginary device - parachute-assisted aircraft landings now exist. Where the book does drift towards flights of the imagination though is in how soon this new dawn for general aviation will become a reality. The majority of US air travel is in flights of 500 miles or less - the very market that these two innovative planes are designed to serve - yet it remains a bumpy flight to the day when we become a nation of liberated air travellers hopping on air-taxis or flying about our business in our own planes. Case in point: given the choice between flying into Barnstable Municipal and a 20 minute drive home, compared with a 2 hour drive to Logan (and a possible delay), it's a no-brainer that I would choose the former. But wait a minute. If it's going to cost me about 40% more than an airline coach fare to fly an air-taxi, or 25-50 cents more per mile if I fly myself, I might not be doing it too often. There is a market in the business community though, with companies seeing time saved as worth the extra cost, but there's another consideration. To arrive at this day of democracy in air travel - the FREE FLIGHT implied in the books title - we would have seen GA move from the current 37 million take offs and landings per year to about 500 million a year at the 5,000 plus secondary airports across the country. That's a whole lot of additional flights. Where are the tens of thousands of new pilots going to come from? FREE FLIGHT is well written and it's an enjoyable read about the joys of flying small planes; it's also an interesting insight into some innovative designs in general aviation planes. As a serious argument about the imminent arrival of a new age in air travel, the author reaches a bit. Nevertheless you'll be quite happy to go with him on this flight of the imagination.
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