On Sun, 18 May 2008 23:42:39 -0500, Jim Logajan wrote in
:

... "Free Flight" by James Fallows ...

The Fallows book had a picture of a Cirrus descending under parachute,
and the contents seem to suggest it would give some historical context to
the origin of Cirrus Aircraft and the concept of very-light-jets. The
book definitely covers those points, but also the cultural divide between
what Fallows calls the "enthusiasts" (those who seem to find anything
that flies interesting in itself) and "civilians" (pretty much everybody
else, who see aviation as just another mode of transportation).

I found both books to be quite instructive, entertaining, and useful. ...

Fallows owned two Cirruses, if I understood it correctly
(one after the other). He was instrumented rated, too.

I believe that he sold the second went he went back to
Asia a few years ago. I have the impression that he
is not current.

He did read r.a.p around the time that he was writing
Free Flight.

Marty