My review copy of Flying Sideways, the autobiography of film stunt pilot Fred North, arrived earlier this week. While I didn’t open it for a couple of days – I was busy getting the latest edition of RotorHub International to the printers – when I did start it, I devoured it in two sessions. This is a pity for two reasons; firstly, it’s presented as a series of interconnected anecdotes that go on to create the whole picture and is an ideal book at bedtime. The trouble is that, like a box of your favourite chocolates, you find yourself ‘wanting just one more’ before you put it away. Of course, the problem with that is that, just like the chocolates, you find that you have finished the box too soon.
Having ‘enjoyed’ a cosmopolitan upbringing and a ‘combative’ relationship with education myself, I found much that resonated in the early chapters, but I’d advance that any pilot – fixed or rotary – who came up the self-improver route would find themselves nodding in recognition as the story goes on. What’s more, they are tales that are told with a compelling mix of humility, honesty and humour that make them all the better. Just as in his flying, Fred (and Peggy) shy away from nothing.
While the tales of films and filmmaking are fascinating, for me, it was the route to Hollywood, the tales of rallies and bad men in the jungle, that gripped me. I don’t want to say any more about the content; I’d hate to spoil it, save to say there was one bit I had no idea about and shame on the FAI and “Col” Peters.
Apparently, the actress Jennifer Grey (nobody puts her in a corner) inspired the book’s title by saying, “Fred, what do you do best?” No doubt, flying sideways is what Fred does best, but it turns out he’s not bad at spinning a yarn either. I give it five stars, two thumbs up and all of that…just go and get a copy.
Flying Sideways is available from the usual retailers from 3 October.
