Rating: 
Summary: Exploring the World Above
Review: I enjoyed this book immensely. I read it on the plane which seemed a fitting place to be led through experiences of someone who really knew the sky. This book contains not only meditations but also technical information that will keep your interest to the end. I came away feeling I had learned something new in more ways than one about the space above and my interest in aviation has been boosted by this book. Each chapter leaves plenty of room for meditating on that certain aspect leaving at the end a panoramic view of the world above. People of all levels of interest in aviation should read this book: from the person afraid of flying as it explains in realistic terms what causes trouble in flight in a manner that neither glosses over the facts that accidents do happen or scare the dickens out of you, to pilots who inhabit the sky more than the ground by renewing or boosting their love for the world above.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent description of the fascination with flying
Review: I found this book to be an excellent commentary on the magnetism with flight and flying. Doesn't focus on the nuts and bolts of flying, but rather the fascination with flight and the perspective an aerial view gives mankind. The detailed explanation of the ValuJet crash is disturbing but instructive. There is a considerable detour on storm chasing in a small plane that might not captivate everyone, but is fascinating to pilots. A captivating book!
Rating: 
Summary: Some good stories and thoughts, but too much other
Review: I just finished the book, and have to say I was not as impressed with it as I had hoped. I listened to an interview of William on "Fresh Air" on NPR and was impressed enough with him (not to mention the fact that his Dad wrote what I think is the best book about flying ever) to buy the book, but it was not what I'd anticipated. Although there is some good flying stories (especially about his time as an air taxi pilot in Texas) and some good thoughts on flying in general, Langeweische uses the book too much (in my opinion) as a vehicle for his own philosophies, many of them with a very tenuous connection to flying or aviation in general. I rapidly grew tired of these side trails, well-written as they were. I wanted more about flying! I didn't buy the book to read about non-flying philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: Great gift for a pilot, but contains one horrible error
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and will buy copies for my instrument students. There's a lot of material that explains what goes on in the real world of aviation. But I was amazed to read, on page 67, the implication that a passenger on an airplane that is accidentally rolled inverted would not feel it. It's true that an extremely skilled aerobatic pilot can do this, but the stunt is as far from the ability of most pilots as brain surgery -- perhaps farther because of the brain surgery pilots out there. I simply cannot believe that the passengers of Air India Flight 855 did not know the airplane was in trouble before it hit the water, as Langewiesche implies. Comment, anyone?
Rating: 
Summary: Level thoughts in places, but tailspin thoughts in others
Review: I thought this book was very interesting in spots, but the writer seemed to want to explain more than he had too. He would go off on tangents that seemed to me to not be releavant to what he was originally talking about. The last half of ch. 6 should have been thrown out, since the author kept repeating the same stuff over and over, as if we the reader can't understand what he is saying. That got really annoying. I would recommend borrowing this and not buying it!!!
Rating: 
Summary: This author has missed the runway.
Review: In my opinion (commercial jet pilot), if your dedicated to true aviation don't waste your time and money on this one. The one star mark is a gift. This book seems to be written for your garden variety blind romantic. In the final chapter I was completely blown away by his disgusting remark fired towards the deceased crew of Valuejet 592. To me this comment is flat out wrong, reckless, distasteful, and the signature of a fraud who has never really been there.
Rating:
Summary: Honest, accurate picture, of a complicated pilot's eye view!
Review: Langewiesche has insight and honesty in a profession with many guarded attitudes and opinions. A wonderful look into the thoughts, idea's, and insights in a highly regulated group of professionals. Answers many questions most pilot's shy away from. Excellent!
Rating:
Summary: Starts great but...
Review: Langewiesche is a gifted writer. It is a daunting task to put into words the emotion and spirit involved in flying, but he does a fantastic job of adding spiritual dimension to his well renowned family craft. Then he takes a side trip to an alternate destination beginning in about chapter 2 or 3 which unfortunately never returns to his original course. Vignettes of his experiences as a professional pilot are at first entertaining, but continue to take the reader off his or her intented path throughout the book and conclude in a political ediditorial about the FAA and large airlines (retelling the details of the ValueJet 592 crash as the catalyst). I was very dissappointed by this book. Not by its quality of prose but simply by its misleading title and jacket text. This is NOT a meditation on flight. This is one chapter of meditation and 6 other random reflections from Mr. Langewiesche's memoirs of involvement in the business of flying. It does not qualify as a meditation and does not qualify on a memoir/reflection. It doesn't crash and burn - it's held aloft by Langewiesche's gift of the language - but it is a bumpy ride that lands hard in an unexpected destination.
Rating:
Summary: Covers deeper issues than title suggests--uneven--worthwhile
Review: More about technology in general with some philosophy and flying war stories thrown in. Since his father literally "wrote the book" on flying in "Stick and Rudder," he has a hard act to follow. But, if you need a clear explanation of happenned to JFK, jr.(and why it will keep happenning) the chapter "The Turn" is a must. And, if you want to know why our dependence on technology leads to inevitable accidents "Value Jet" summarizes an interesting and frightenning theory. He's not John McPhee yet, but this is a valuable contribution.
Rating:
Summary: An idiosyncratic and unfocused reflection on flight
Review: Much like his Sahara Unveiled, the author here uses language beautifully but the book is written in a muted tone, also like Sahara Unveiled. It left me with the vague sense that he is angry. Nonetheless, it will give the non-pilot some sense of the real experience of flight without a lot of new-age adjectives. It contains a long digression on the life of John Jackson by way of expanding on the theme that the orientation to the physical world is changed by its perception from the cockpit. But the digression is a real digression and drags on irrelevantly. His description of why no pilot can fly by the seat of his pants will surprise every non-pilot and is probably worth the price of admission.
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