Book Review – In it for the long haul

I had the privilege to fly alongside Bill for a minute portion of his 22,000 hours aloft and can vouch for the fact that you wouldn’t find a more collegiate flight deck.

Bill always had a manner that put the entire crew at ease and welcomed their input, using a technique that is formally known today as crew resource management. Or to put it in English — common sense and good manners.

His book possesses the same relaxed style. It’s not a heavy tome but a series of anecdotes punctuated by photos, humour and the odd thumbnail sketch. And through these anecdotes the real life of these pilots is presented to the reader.

Rather than a group of faceless, elite aviators with four gold bars and braid on the peaks of their hats, they’re shown in a far truer, more human light. From sing-a-longs with Kylie Minogue to the evacuation of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy and the events of September 11, the diversity is tremendous.

It also tracks their careers as they ventured beyond the bounds of Qantas, many as a result of an oversupply of pilots in their fledgling days as second officers.

The book also offers a glimpse of the flight-deck from a bygone era, one that saw such classic aircraft as the Boeing 707, Lockheed Electra and the first-generation 747 sport the ‘Flying Kangaroo’ on the tail.

These were days when smoking was permitted not merely on board the aeroplane, but in the cockpit. Flight engineers were a critical element of every crew. And the means of navigation advanced dramatically over the course of the careers outlined in this book.

It was an era when exotic ports such as Tahiti, Cairo, Athens, Harare and Bahrain filled the flying roster and there was enough time ‘in port’ to truly take in the wonders of these destinations. Logically, much of the humour stems from the time off duty and the people, places, parties and situations that arose in the downtime.

On a more serious note, there is also attention paid to those various decisions and contemplations that come along in the course of a career such as when to change aircraft types or do promotional training.

From the trials and tribulations of a new command to coping with jet lag, particularly as the body grows a little older, to the growth of crew resource management and how it changed the flight deck — although even in this case there still were some growing pains.

We live in a time when aviation is dominated by security screening and towering airport fences, yet A Lifetime in Longhaul cracks the door to the flight decks, crew buses and hotel rooms from days gone by.

It is made richer by the fact that it is written from the standpoint of more than one man and so offers a far broader perspective and range of experiences. It also examines their journeys from the young, fresh-faced hopefuls of Qantas Cadet Course No. 5 to commanders of globe-crossing airliners — and serves to remind the reader that true success in any field of endeavour is a gradual process comprising many stages.

Thirteen such courses graduated in the 1960s, providing about 200 pilots who ultimately filled many senior positions in flight operations and Training. Their contribution was significant.

True to Bill’s gentlemanly nature, he has left his own chapter to last. As I read those closing pages I noted a Los Angeles flight that I had crewed with him out of Melbourne on a hot day just before Christmas 2006, as the Victorian bushfires raged.

We had to jettison fuel off the coast of NSW and land at Sydney and my recollections are of Bill’s even-handedness and absolute calmness and clarity as the issue was addressed and the aircraft brought safely back to port.

Yet in this book, Bill candidly reveals that the tension of the episode absolutely exhausted him to the extent that he checked into a hotel rather than drive home. But I never saw any sign of the obvious pressure — and his sense of command throughout was impeccable.

Perhaps such calmness under pressure is one thing that comes from a Lifetime in Longhaul.