Again, again ..

I've just done something that, as far as I can remember, I have never done before! I've finished reading a book, only to go right back to the beginning and start reading it all over again!..

The book is called 'Skyfaring' by MarkVanhoenacker - a British Airways 'Jumbo Jet' pilot - who, like me, has always loved and been fascinated by aeroplanes since childhood. Their glamour, their excitement, their sexiness and power and .. well, their ability to fly! In the 'old days' there used to be spectator access to the piers at Ringway Airport - as Manchester was called - and I spent many, many a Sunday afternoon getting sunburnt and high on aircrcaft fuel gazing down at those beautiful big birds. Here's a shot from my archive, taken around 1975! I used to be thrilled knowing that a jet taxiing in was, mere hours ago, absolutely miles from where I was standing - on another continent, even - and now here it was, briefly, in Manchester and would soon be in another city, far, far away...

Well, the book is basically 329 pages of that! Of the strangeness and awe of our ability to zip around our world in mere hours. Beautifully written - who else could describe engine fans as "techno petals"? - and fascinating from the first page. Maybe that's why, like a 747 being turned around for a new departure, I just had to start the book all over again..