Flying Alone Beth Ruggiero York
Flying Alone
Beth Ruggiero York
File Size: 3033 KB
Print Length: 246 pages
Publisher: Beth's Books (September 1, 2019)
Publication Date: September 1, 2019
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B07V3P4GPD
From the time she was a teenager, Beth knew she wanted to fly, and a solo trip across the country to visit family confirmed her aspirations of becoming a pilot. But her dreams were almost grounded before they could take off when she received the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at the age of 22.
Beth vowed that this new challenge would not put restrictions on her life and embarked on a journey to become an airline pilot. Starting at the small local airport, the aviation world swallowed her whole, and the next five years of her life were as turbulent as an airplane in a thunderstorm, never knowing when, how or if she would emerge.
An agonizing love affair with her flight instructor, dangerous risks in the sky and flying broken airplanes for shady companies all intertwined to define her road to the airlines, eventually being hired by Trans World Airlines in 1989.
Flying Alone outlines the struggles and the challenges of civil aviation that Beth faced 30 years ago.
Ultimately a story of survival and overcoming overwhelming odds, Flying Alone is told with soul-baring candor, taking readers on a suspenseful journey through terror, romance and victory.
My Thoughts
When you read memoirs such as Flying Alone, you recognize that people go to great lengths to fulfill their dreams.
Here, in this story, Beth Ruggiero York shows you the steps she took and you see the risks and miscalculations that were made along the way.
York begins by making us aware of how she began this journey and we learn some things we may not have known, like the standard altitude for airwork practice, what a lineman also called a line service technician, are responsible for, and that towing a billboard is more difficult than a banner.
I thought it was appropriate that York pointed out the regulations and dangers and importance of not exceeding your capability or that of your aircraft. She showed us this early on in the book when a pilot she knew was charged with manslaughter while another was arrested on a taxiway and she bailed him out of prison.
While this memoir moves back and forth a bit, you clearly see Beth's love of flying and the things that were significant to her at that time, like her father's passing, time spent with other pilots and aircraft and dealing with her own illness.
I received a copy of this book from Anna Sacca, Senior Publicity Manager at FSB Associates.
About the Author
Beth Ruggiero York is a former airline pilot for Trans World Airlines. She entered the world of civil aviation in 1984 shortly after graduating from college and, for the next five years, climbed the ladder to her ultimate goal of flying for a major airline.
She originally wrote Flying Alone in the early 1990s, shortly after her career as a pilot ended and the memories were fresh.
Beth now has dual careers--Chinese translator and professional photographer. She teaches photography workshops for Arizona Highways PhotoScapes and her own company, Ruggiero Images LLC. Beth has published a popular instructional book on night photography, Fun in the Dark: A Guide to Successful Night Photography, which has worldwide sales, and she has co-written a book entitled, Everglades National Park: A Photographic Destination. She and her husband live in Fountain Hills, AZ.