Book excerpt: Flying the Big Jets presents the facts that people want to know about the world of the big jets. How does a large aircraft fly? How long is the take-off run at maximum weight? How much fuel is carried on a transatlantic flight? How do the radios work? What aircraft maintenance is required? How often are the tyres changed? What is the life style of a pilot? The answers to these and a thousand other questions are given in sufficient detail to satisfy the most inquisitive of readers. Chapter by chapter the reader is taken gently from the basics of the big jets to the sophistication of the 'glass cockpit' in preparation for the pilot's seat on a Boeing 777 flight from London to Boston. Flying the Big Jets is a comprehensive book that reveals as never before the every-day working environment of the modern long-haul airline pilot. "Written by a pilot with over 15,000 flying hours on heavy jets during a 30-year career in commercial aviation, this title is a comprehensive text book taking the reader into the 'glass cockpit' of a Boeing 777. It is also a guide to the principles of flight, the art of navigation and meteorology, and an appreciation of the role played by Air Traffic Control in modern airline operations. An absorbing read for that next long-haul flight." WINGSPAN