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Final Approach: My Father and Other Turbulence
A stunning debut which charts the turbulent flightpath between a planespotting son and a jetsetting father. In Final My Father and Other Turbulence, Mark Blackburn takes the reader along his lifelong struggle to find a place for himself outside the shadow of his womanising, bullying multimillionaire father. Amidst vindictive teachers and adolescent travails, power plays and a crumbling family fortune, Mark’s infectious love for all things aviation shines through. Beginning at Heathrow, while waiting to board a flight to Cork where the ailing family estate awaits him, Mark takes a look back at a life defined by airports. From a schoolboy bullied for his love of planes to the childhood bliss of a holiday spent cataloguing jets with his brother, the presence of the estranged father is never too far away. It’s at Heathrow again where an adolescent Mark is summoned to meet his father’s foreign mistress, and Deauville airport where, in middle-age, he alights to negotiate a sale on behalf of his increasingly paranoid father, who is determined to spend away his riches ‘til death. Every chapter has a new airport, and each ones brings Mark and the reader closer to the book’s final approach. Dryly witty to the end, Final Approach offers a poignant insight into a man’s struggle for self-determination. It's the trip of a lifetime. Take your seat and buckle up for take-off.
198 pages, Paperback
Published November 2, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 19, 2023
Such a creative approach to memoir! Each chapter is a three-letter airport code; no numbers, no years. Time bends and converges in Mark Blackburn’s recollections of his youth and problematic, grandiose father. Much is left unsaid about their relationship and the trauma it caused, but the author’s love of planes and travel knits the narrative of a man looking back.
This memoir—reminiscent of And When Did You Last See Your Father? and Duke of Deception—makes a valuable contribution to the writing about fathers who dominated their sons’ experiences, not always in a good way.
This memoir—reminiscent of And When Did You Last See Your Father? and Duke of Deception—makes a valuable contribution to the writing about fathers who dominated their sons’ experiences, not always in a good way.
January 29, 2024
This is one of those books that you hesitate to praise because the man has been given so
much in life. He’s rich. As a boy he got the best of everything from a public boarding school
just west of London (gee I wonder which one that is). He had gorgeous au pairs like out of a
TV show. He went on expensive holidays. He flew in a helicopter. He ran his own business
and then when it went south, got bailed out by his family. So when he complains about
something you want to play Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River.
On the other hand, he’s also in thrall to his emotionally abusive father, who is the elephant
in the room. Even when he’s absent from the story, the father dominates every chapter. It
seems as if everyone was somehow captivated by this man so they all became an echo
chamber for each other so that he (meaning the father) was the best of everything a man
could be. And because he’s invisible, you start to fill in the elephant for yourself in the way
that you understand an elephant in a room would be: monstrously large, breaking things,
inappropriate, non-negotiable. And slowly you realise that the author has been broken by
this father in a way that’s almost impossible to see, that’s almost impossible for him to see.
At the very end when he starts to emerge from the thrall and starts to speak about himself
you see a different man, stronger, better, truer. It felt almost heroic but in that quiet real
way of the everyday. I have to admit to being moved by that.
much in life. He’s rich. As a boy he got the best of everything from a public boarding school
just west of London (gee I wonder which one that is). He had gorgeous au pairs like out of a
TV show. He went on expensive holidays. He flew in a helicopter. He ran his own business
and then when it went south, got bailed out by his family. So when he complains about
something you want to play Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River.
On the other hand, he’s also in thrall to his emotionally abusive father, who is the elephant
in the room. Even when he’s absent from the story, the father dominates every chapter. It
seems as if everyone was somehow captivated by this man so they all became an echo
chamber for each other so that he (meaning the father) was the best of everything a man
could be. And because he’s invisible, you start to fill in the elephant for yourself in the way
that you understand an elephant in a room would be: monstrously large, breaking things,
inappropriate, non-negotiable. And slowly you realise that the author has been broken by
this father in a way that’s almost impossible to see, that’s almost impossible for him to see.
At the very end when he starts to emerge from the thrall and starts to speak about himself
you see a different man, stronger, better, truer. It felt almost heroic but in that quiet real
way of the everyday. I have to admit to being moved by that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2026
I really enjoyed this unusual book. The arrangement of Mark’s story around various domestic and international airports and the study of aircraft is not only clever, it also gets to the deeper meanings of the story: aircraft, air travel and the constant movement they evoke mirroring the exhilarating but unstable life his father created for him.
This is a frank, self-aware and touching book laced with wry, often self-deprecating humor. It is also remarkably unjudgmental: although he clearly recognizes the damage caused by his father’s chaotic, faithless behavior, and in spite of the pain this undoubtedly caused, Mark has created a portrait of his father that is, in the end, accepting, and possessed of a maturity that his father apparently lacked. Nor does Mark ignore the priveleged life and the opportunities that his father offered him, even if those gifts were heavy with expectation and obligation.
I also loved the full-throated evocation of plane-spotting. Like aircraft modelling, a hobby of mine, this is an obsession that some people look askance at, as if it should be left behind with one’s childhood. Not so! Loving aircraft in all their manifestations is, like many hobbies, both an escape from life, and a way of making life count - of slowing down time, and finding satisfaction in the moment. What is more, Mark doesn’t simply celebrate the hobby: it becomes the structure around which he answers the claims his father placed upon him, and turns them into a work of art.
This is a frank, self-aware and touching book laced with wry, often self-deprecating humor. It is also remarkably unjudgmental: although he clearly recognizes the damage caused by his father’s chaotic, faithless behavior, and in spite of the pain this undoubtedly caused, Mark has created a portrait of his father that is, in the end, accepting, and possessed of a maturity that his father apparently lacked. Nor does Mark ignore the priveleged life and the opportunities that his father offered him, even if those gifts were heavy with expectation and obligation.
I also loved the full-throated evocation of plane-spotting. Like aircraft modelling, a hobby of mine, this is an obsession that some people look askance at, as if it should be left behind with one’s childhood. Not so! Loving aircraft in all their manifestations is, like many hobbies, both an escape from life, and a way of making life count - of slowing down time, and finding satisfaction in the moment. What is more, Mark doesn’t simply celebrate the hobby: it becomes the structure around which he answers the claims his father placed upon him, and turns them into a work of art.
January 15, 2024
I found this book to be more of a a mystery than a memoir and I had to unpicked the story. Who is this man, the father, who made himself a fortune and then lost a fortune. Alienated everyone who knew him? Was surprised that his own children showed up at his deathbed? I don’t believe that the father made a fortune from selling luxury cars in the 1970s and 1980s, first BMWs and then something Japanese. Sure. Whatever. But come on. The father was dealing in something other than that. Then the father was turned down for some gong, which they give to people who drive others to commit suicide, but the father was denied it because (wait for it) he had a mistress from (wait for it) Eastern Europe. Sure. Whatever. But come on.
Once you figure out that the father is sociopathic criminal, the rest of the story makes more sense. You get why everyone tiptoes around this man. Why he can wreak havoc. Why he can control others.
Then you start to appreciate the book. Because it tells the real story of what it’s like to grow up in that circumstance.
Once you figure out that the father is sociopathic criminal, the rest of the story makes more sense. You get why everyone tiptoes around this man. Why he can wreak havoc. Why he can control others.
Then you start to appreciate the book. Because it tells the real story of what it’s like to grow up in that circumstance.
January 16, 2026
I'll start by saying that this book is very different to what I normally would choose. But, I'm so glad I took a chance and purchased Final Approach: My Father and Other Turbulence by Mark Blackburn. Part travelogue and part memoir, this book is so much more than plane spotting and travel! The exquisite writing fully captures the eras of the author's personal travel experiences from the 1970s to present day. As an American who made her made her home in England and then spent decades travelling by plane back and forth, Mark Blackburn brought to life that feeling of travelling through various airports throughout the years, and all the unexpected emotions attached to that. The charismatic character of the author's father, who features predominately throughout the book, absolutely jumps off the page. If you love planes and travel, I totally recommend this gem.
October 11, 2026
I didn't think I would like this book, because i am not interested in planes and such, and i find it peculiar anyone would. It's like watching paint dry. But my friend recommended it, so I picked it up. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
This memoir should almost be a compulsory reading, because of how much insight it offers into toxic masculinity. The author's father was a “character,” but clearly narcissistic, controlling, demanding, and from the sounds of it, corrupt in every way that a person can be corrupt. The ability of this man, Mark, to finally separate himself from the family and get his own life, and then come to terms with the reality of his upbringing, is actually deeply moving.
The book is overall quite subtle, full of wry asides and thought. For men trying to detach themselves from their father's toxic traits, I recommend.
This memoir should almost be a compulsory reading, because of how much insight it offers into toxic masculinity. The author's father was a “character,” but clearly narcissistic, controlling, demanding, and from the sounds of it, corrupt in every way that a person can be corrupt. The ability of this man, Mark, to finally separate himself from the family and get his own life, and then come to terms with the reality of his upbringing, is actually deeply moving.
The book is overall quite subtle, full of wry asides and thought. For men trying to detach themselves from their father's toxic traits, I recommend.
February 10, 2024
How original! The one book I’ve read this year that I almost wish I’d written myself – or at least wish I’d thought of the style! A sort-of autobiography using airports as placeholders. I’m at least as enthusiastic a flyer as Mark Blackburn, though I never became a planespotter (though I remember chatting with quite a few of them as a boy on my rare visits to the roof of the Queens Building, probably around the same time as Mark was up there!). I don’t know and hadn’t heard of Mark or his father, so wish I’d read the chapter at the end first. Nevertheless, it made for an interesting and entertaining read. And all the way through, I couldn’t stop thinking “what story of my life would I weave around this or that airport?”.
April 1, 2024
Final Approach opens with a helicopter journey. It gives the book a strong sense of foreboding, deftly positioning the author's father as a risk taker of other people's lives, single minded and domineering.
It's hard to categories this book. Blackburn has a clear and engaging passion for planes, airports and travel. The conversational tone of the prose is distinctive, as if the author is sitting across the table, talking frankly about his impossible father.
At the end of the book, I was also touched how the author told his dying father that he loved him, an unconditional love which had been sorely tested. It felt a profound moment.
It's hard to categories this book. Blackburn has a clear and engaging passion for planes, airports and travel. The conversational tone of the prose is distinctive, as if the author is sitting across the table, talking frankly about his impossible father.
At the end of the book, I was also touched how the author told his dying father that he loved him, an unconditional love which had been sorely tested. It felt a profound moment.
December 25, 2023
I knew Mark for a number of years in the 90’s as I was a supplier to the chain of sports shoe shops that he bought for and later ran and owned. In fact I well remember him coming in to my office around 1990 the day after I received samples of some odd looking hiking boots. He enthused over them which in turn caused me to enthuse over them. I think I went on to sell a couple of million pairs!
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved the premise of setting up each chapter with the appropriate airport code and Mark’s writing style was fun and made for easy reading. I knew of his father of course and remember the family taking over the business but I obviously knew nothing of the paternal relationship which, through the book, was enlightening.
As a fellow sneaker and car enthusiast now far removed from the shoe business the book sparked memories of another life. Even if you have never sold a sneaker or even flown on a Dan Air Comet you will enjoy Mark’s story of life and the struggles of being the son of a demanding father. Highly recommended.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved the premise of setting up each chapter with the appropriate airport code and Mark’s writing style was fun and made for easy reading. I knew of his father of course and remember the family taking over the business but I obviously knew nothing of the paternal relationship which, through the book, was enlightening.
As a fellow sneaker and car enthusiast now far removed from the shoe business the book sparked memories of another life. Even if you have never sold a sneaker or even flown on a Dan Air Comet you will enjoy Mark’s story of life and the struggles of being the son of a demanding father. Highly recommended.
June 21, 2025
This book really does take you to places!
I loved this book from the airport coding of each chapter to the very end. The engaging narrative increased my aviation knowledge significantly, took me to interesting places and tricky situations and revealed a lot about the author's difficult relationship with his father. It is honest and authentic, neither dramatised or exaggerated and you'll feel close to Mark Blackburn and his extraordinary life, long before the final chapter. Highly recommended.
I loved this book from the airport coding of each chapter to the very end. The engaging narrative increased my aviation knowledge significantly, took me to interesting places and tricky situations and revealed a lot about the author's difficult relationship with his father. It is honest and authentic, neither dramatised or exaggerated and you'll feel close to Mark Blackburn and his extraordinary life, long before the final chapter. Highly recommended.
December 6, 2023
Engaging, well-written, part-autobiography, part-memoir about life with (and without) a jet-setting father told through a series of airports (every chapter titled with an airport three letter identity code, mostly well-known, some quite obscure); together with everything you needed to know about plane spotting but were afraid to ask. Lots of humour in here, and written with a light, self-deprecating touch.
December 12, 2023
Very interesting and cleverly structured memoir about growing up as the son of a highly-driven millionaire. Love and loss set against a background of private jets and plane-spotting.
March 12, 2024
A fascinating insight into a mans life and his relationship with his father, through the medium of Aircraft.
August 1, 2024
Almost exclusively I am a fiction reader, so reading a memoir was a departure for me, but one I am glad I took.
I loved this book from the outset. It is knowingly and honestly written, with a high dose of self awareness, even during the years the author was a little boy. It made me wish I’d kept up my childhood diary writing, as it has provided the author with a treasure trove of accurate facts and nostalgia which he weaves into a compelling family history. I was astonished I could find the different accounts of airports and aircraft experiences so fascinating, but the more I read I more hooked I became. Deftly, the author aligns aviation fact, nostalgia and memory with his family history, so that the flights and airports became as much a part of Mark’s heritage as his family members are.
I found myself reading the book as slowly as I could, just a chapter or two at a time, to slow and savour my reading experience. The main ‘plot’ (the mystery of why Mark’s father was the man he was) grips from the start, yet is never fully explained. This makes for some mystery, and some extremely revealing and poignant passages in a story packed with restrained emotion, humour and respect for an age that is already history. I enjoyed this book tremendously - and I enjoyed learning about aviation along the way, without even knowing it. Thank you Mark - I highly recommend!
I loved this book from the outset. It is knowingly and honestly written, with a high dose of self awareness, even during the years the author was a little boy. It made me wish I’d kept up my childhood diary writing, as it has provided the author with a treasure trove of accurate facts and nostalgia which he weaves into a compelling family history. I was astonished I could find the different accounts of airports and aircraft experiences so fascinating, but the more I read I more hooked I became. Deftly, the author aligns aviation fact, nostalgia and memory with his family history, so that the flights and airports became as much a part of Mark’s heritage as his family members are.
I found myself reading the book as slowly as I could, just a chapter or two at a time, to slow and savour my reading experience. The main ‘plot’ (the mystery of why Mark’s father was the man he was) grips from the start, yet is never fully explained. This makes for some mystery, and some extremely revealing and poignant passages in a story packed with restrained emotion, humour and respect for an age that is already history. I enjoyed this book tremendously - and I enjoyed learning about aviation along the way, without even knowing it. Thank you Mark - I highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews