| Authors of self-published books often send us a copy with a plea to be honest about it but usually, we tend not to bother.
Being a great or near great pilot, or having survived a war or two, may make you a man among men, but it doesn't always equate to being a great writer. However, we are happy to say (since he's also bought an ad for his book) that Ippolito does know how to string words together in an interesting and readable way.
With wit, humor, self-deprecation and honest insight, he proves that had he not chosen a career as an airline pilot - which he did early and pursued with dogged determination - he could have been a pretty good novelist. Most of these books are "then I did this" and "then I was awarded that," and so on.
Bill's book, on the other hand, is spiced with witticisms, stories of pranks played by pilots on each other and the "stews," the days of flying old round-engine airplanes to remote airports, the difficulties of putting a jet airplane down on an ice-covered remote field in Maine, plus some real insight into the day to day life of airline drivers.
Bill uses a clever method of reliving his life with the airlines, interspersing one of his last flights from the U.S. to Europe - some surprising facts come from that - with his early days as a rookie flight instructor, charter pilot, and eventually, captain of an L-1011. He starts each chapter with an aviation quote (here's one of our favorites: "Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of the flight attendants."
And also from children's essays on flying: "So far planes have only be able to fly in circles of no more than 360 degrees. This could be the next big break-through in air travel."
Along the way, he has to deal with cabin riots, catastrophic engine failures, lost airports, difficult captains and the decline and fall of the airline industry. Ironically, throughout the book, he praises the management and staff of his company, Delta Airlines, for their ability to keep the airline profitable when all about them were failing.
But since his retirement, Delta itself has fallen on hard times (along with every other airline) and is asking pilots to take a 30% pay cut while they try to survive. Bill was hired by Delta on April 1, 1963 and flew for them until his retirement in 1997, in turboprops (even C- 130s!), twin and triple engine jets. Before that, he paid his dues in single and twin-engine Cessna’s, commuter turboprops and even DC-3s. His was a life of civilian aviation during the transition from props to turbines and he presents it clearly, engagingly and with wit and love.
If you've ever wondered what life was really like behind that closed door up front (and what it was like before they locked it), Leaving On A Jet Plane is your first class ticket for a heck of a ride.
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