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How to Steal a Jet: and Other Aviation Stories
Anybody can steal a jet. Of course a few tools will make the task easier. You'll want a good network of contacts, familiarity with the "get-away" airport, a credit card with sufficient balance to fill the tanks, cash to garner help and "goodwill" from airport officials and a lot of brass neck. Flying the multi-million-dollar loot is the easy bit. Join Captain James in these airborne capers and as he shares behind-the-scenes stories from his 40-year career in aviation. It's all here!
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 19, 2024
About the author
James McBride
121 books22 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See also James McBride.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 18, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. I like reading books like this, where the author tells different stories & little anecdotes from their lived experiences - it's like getting to know a person who has lived the life you wish you could have lived, or you're sharing stories with a like-minded person, it's just good for the soul sometimes.
This is a collection of stories from James' 40 years of being a pilot; there are some good, some bad & some (almost) ugly stories, but they are all told with respect & compassion for the people involved. A few of the stories had me laughing out loud & wishing I could have been a fly on the wall, note I don't say passenger of the jet!
Through reading this book you can tell how much James loved his job & his 'office'. Towards the end, when James talks about his retirement, & last day in the 'office' he shares a picture of the cockpit (his office) & talks about letting the rest of the crew leave the jet so he can have a few moments alone to walk round his plane for one last time as the man in charge - that had me bawling my eyes out.
James talks about different aspects of choosing Airline Pilot as a career, but never once does he badmouth or berate any of the companies he's worked for, nor does he speak badly of anyone he has ever worked with, I can imagine any FO who has had the pleasure of sitting beside James will remember him with fondness.
This book is not so much a 'Tales from the Flight Deck' or 'This is your Captain speaking' type of book, it's more of a 'Take your friend for a walk down Memory Lane' type of book. It's like you're sat in a pub, or restaurant with a group of friends & acquaintances, & a couple of old Fly Boys are chatting about the things they got up to at 30,000ft - but the family-friendly version, as there's no bed-hopping or Naughty Night Tales being told.
Having finished the book, I plan to purchase the title in the near future because I borrowed it through Kindle Unlimited, but I want to keep the title on my Kindle so that I can read it again in the future.
This is a collection of stories from James' 40 years of being a pilot; there are some good, some bad & some (almost) ugly stories, but they are all told with respect & compassion for the people involved. A few of the stories had me laughing out loud & wishing I could have been a fly on the wall, note I don't say passenger of the jet!
Through reading this book you can tell how much James loved his job & his 'office'. Towards the end, when James talks about his retirement, & last day in the 'office' he shares a picture of the cockpit (his office) & talks about letting the rest of the crew leave the jet so he can have a few moments alone to walk round his plane for one last time as the man in charge - that had me bawling my eyes out.
James talks about different aspects of choosing Airline Pilot as a career, but never once does he badmouth or berate any of the companies he's worked for, nor does he speak badly of anyone he has ever worked with, I can imagine any FO who has had the pleasure of sitting beside James will remember him with fondness.
This book is not so much a 'Tales from the Flight Deck' or 'This is your Captain speaking' type of book, it's more of a 'Take your friend for a walk down Memory Lane' type of book. It's like you're sat in a pub, or restaurant with a group of friends & acquaintances, & a couple of old Fly Boys are chatting about the things they got up to at 30,000ft - but the family-friendly version, as there's no bed-hopping or Naughty Night Tales being told.
Having finished the book, I plan to purchase the title in the near future because I borrowed it through Kindle Unlimited, but I want to keep the title on my Kindle so that I can read it again in the future.
February 1, 2026
Tells it like it is!
If you are at all interested in flying then you will enjoy this book as well as the others he has written!
If you are at all interested in flying then you will enjoy this book as well as the others he has written!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews