Shirley is a true trailblazer! How Not to Fly an Airplane follows her personal journey and achievements as she explores and defines what it means to her to be a mother, a woman, and a pilot. She manages to find many bridges between her personal struggles and the lessons she's learned throughout her career. While the book includes a heavy amount of technical flight jargon that can feel overwhelming for the average reader, and the narrative occasionally jumps around, making the flow a bit uneven, Shirley’s story remains inspiring. She rises above her struggles to succeed in a male-dominated world of aviation—overcoming bullies, battling illness, and teaching others how to soar, just as she does.

𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙵𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚒𝚛𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚎: 𝙰 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝙿𝚒𝚕𝚘𝚝'𝚜 𝙹𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢.
4/5! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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As a flight attendant and private pilot, I always love to read about or see females excelling in this industry. I loved reading about Shirleys road to becoming an inspiration in the aviation world. 𖹭

If you have a love for aviation or the road to becoming a pilot, definitely give this a read.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 & 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎-𝚊𝚛𝚌 𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠.

Loved this book! Especially with the current administration and rise of anti “DEI” policies it was a very inspiring read. Aviation is 95% male, and 90% white males - women make up a tiny percentage of comercial airline pilots so I love reading about and seeing women in aviation!

Thanks to NetGalley and Mindbuck Media for the advanced reader copy.

The premise of getting to hear from not only a female pilot, but someone who's taught others (mostly men) to fly as well sounded like a slam dunk. Unfortunately, the writer's voice felt stiff and she got too much into the weeds of the jargon around flying rather than taking the reader for a narrative ride (pun intended).