Crazy In The Cockpit: A Woman Pilot's Adventures In The Air

Rating:
Summary: Fine Flight
Review: A gifted storyteller with a knack for dialogue, Randy Blume has written an entertaining tale of a woman's struggles in the male-dominated world of airline pilots. "Crazy in the Cockpit" is a page-turner, filled with compelling details drawn from the author's own experiences as a pilot. Its 246 pages flew by quickly, leaving this reader eager for more installments of the adventures of Kendra Davis, Blume's fictional alter ego.

Rating:
Summary: Randy the trailblazer
Review: Captain Blume's book is a largely-anecdotal, partly-apocryphal history of her flying career. Her account, a trifle sanctimonious in places, traces her rise from student pilot up through the ranks of flight instructor, entry-level engineer, and captain. Hers was a typical progression, hence its humor. What really set her story apart was her gender in a macho, traditionally all-male profession. The protagonist starts out as an Ivy League-bound journalism co-ed. She ends up bouncing back and forth between snob mother, college roomate, and adolescent-minded male pilots. Whatever the stage of one's career, all aviation-related professionals--pilots, dispatchers, schedulers--will bond with Blume's novel.

Rating:
Summary: A light yet thoughtful peak into a young pilot's life.
Review: This episodic tale introduces us to the adventures and misadventures of a young, sometimes idealistic woman, who manages to tough out flight trainining, flight sickness, sexism, and a mother's dread in her quest to wear a pilot's wings. Randy Blume's novel offers a amusing glimpse into her narrator's air-born world. She manages to toss into the entertaining mix some thoughtful observations about men, women, idealism, cross-culturalism, and a wealth of technical detail. She's a talented young writer with a bitter wit. Let's keep a look out for her.