READ THIS: HIGHEST DUTY: My Search for What Really Matters by Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
Whom You Know is about quality: quality items, quality places, and more than anything, quality people (who usually are in these places influencing these items!) In reading this book, Peachy Deegan thinks that Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger exemplifies a quality person through and through. Usually we read books independently, but this time we consulted a member of our Aviation Panel at Whom You Know because everything Sully did is appreciated at a professional level even further. Peachy Deegan herself is not a pilot and has nothing to do with the aviation industry except for going to countless airshows as a child-Blue Angels and the like.
Our Aviation Expert has over 40 years of experience designing and building Aircraft Ground Support Equipment for Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky Aircraft, General Electric & Rolls Royce. He has worked on Jet Englines and Engine Stands. He has assembled and disassembled Tooling, Open Area Gauges for Turbine Blades, Fuel Controls Inspection and Calibration. Additionally, he is a former Member of Board of Directors for CTMA (Connecticut Tooling Manufacturing Association). This is our first aviation book to be reviewed at Whom You Know and we cannot think of a better book to start with.
During Sully's lifetime, Aviation as an industry has evolved tremendously in many ways from Electronics to Air Traffic Control to the FAA. As time has gone on, there are more and more planes in sky, specifically in the Manhattan airspace. The average person does not necessarily have an appreciation for all that it takes to be a great pilot: knowledge, a great attitude, acute attention to detail, sharp awareness, good eyes, and a fantastic knowledge of aircraft & engines. What is most impressive about Sully is his attention to detail and awareness. In reading the book, Sully is exactly correct in everything he mentions about the airline industry. Not all pilots possess his outstanding thinking and landing ability he has and I believe he is among the TOP percentage of pilots in the Industry. This was an excellent book and hard to put down. I liked the great detail, and you really get to know “Sully” in his professional and personal life I highly recommend Highest Duty. It is a good book for anyone. If there were more pilots like “Sully” the skies would be even much safer. Overall, an EXCELLENT BOOK.
ABOUT JEFFREY ZASLOW:
Jeffrey Zaslow is a Wall Street Journal columnist and, with Randy Pausch, coauthor of the #1 international bestseller The Last Lecture, now translated into 46 languages. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship. Jeff lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, Sherry, and daughters Jordan, Alex and Eden.
HIGHEST DUTY
My Search for What Really Matters
By Capt. Chesley Sullenberger with Jeffrey Zaslow
William Morrow
Publication Date: October 13, 2009
ISBN: 9780061924682
Price: $25.99 US/ $33.99 Can.