New Sabena book : Souvenirs sans gloire (French)

[kerditions]

Hello,

I represent a small publishing company in Genval. In line with the tenth anniversary of the Sabenian bankruptcy, I have published the memoirs of my own father, who used to be a B737 pilot and then instructor between 1976 and 1998.

It is both meant for former Sabenians, who will recognize some of the people involved in the 14 flights described, as for current and future pilots, who will be interested in the developed technical aspects of the flights and the glossary of technical terms at the end of the book. But also for the general public, who will enjoy the lively descriptions of the flights and "night-stops".

If anyone is interested, it is possible to buy this book for only 10 euros on http://www.edern.be/kerditions/Site/Ker ... ligne.html

and I can be contacted directly at this address: [email protected]

I hope this is the right place to post this announcement. I think many of you will enjoy reading this.

It should be noted though that this book has been published in French.

Thanks,

Xavier Vanvaerenbergh
Kerditions

[kerditions]

Hi,

This message to thank all of those who have bought the book. I have received so many orderss that the first edition is already sold out. The second one is being printed at the moment and will be ready by mid-week.

Don't hesitate to order it and to talk about it

Best wishes,

Xavier

[Bralo20]

Any chances it will be translated into English or Dutch?

[kerditions]

Hello,

It is certainly not impossible. A good translation costs a lot of money though, so I don't think it can be expected in the immediate future, but maybe in some months...

I'll keep you updated if there is any progress in this issue

Xavier

[Squelsh]

Don't hesitate to order it and to talk about it

.
Let's
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Received my copy this friday and read it over the weekend. A very good addition to the library of any Belgian aviation lover. Reads like a train and is very fluently written. This noon wrote down a small summary of the chapters/flights for the fellow luchtzakkers. I am no pilot, so I cannot describe certain situations optimally, but try to word it anyhow. I already apologise for any spelling mistakes:)
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ASSASSINS EN HERBE // OCT74//CESSNA310_OO-SEE
EBBR_EGKK_EGBB_EGGP_EGKK_EBOS_EBBR
First flight described portaits the author as young student-pilot in the Ecole D'Aviation Civile where he attained his IFR license and goes on training-flights with fellow-students of his, in a Cessna310. On this particular flight in bad weather conditions they lose ADF and radio-contact (amongst others) during approach in London. Also read about the fuel-cap that went missing during the flight to Liverpool and the solution to this problem.
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OVERCONFIDENT // DEC76//B732_OO-SDB
EBBR_EPWA
Very interesting background info on old RAF pilots in SABENA. Hierarchical info, their flying style, -sometimes- lack of communication skills but also surplus of know-how. Very good reading on how it was back then when flying over Poland and the local ATC practices, including the use of other units of measurement. Ends with a thriller-like description of a difficult landing in very bad weather with low visibility.
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NEXT TIME, DON'T FORGET SEVEN UP // JUL77//B732_OO-SDA
EBBR_LFPG_EBBR
Very fun story about the crew and their stopover nightlife party that goes -almost- totally wrong. This scene could have come out of a PanAm episode, easily. At certain point the author finds himself and his crew in the middle of nowhere at the early morning hours, having to go and look for gasoline for their car, knowing they have to be flying in a few hours and a crewpickup is waiting for them.
It is also in this chapter that one learns what a "café Sabéna" consisted of. It's a good thing that the author only drinks 7UP.
.
MICHEL AU PAYS DES SOVIETS // FEB79//B732_OO-SDE
EBBR_EPWA_UUEE_EBBR
Again this chapter has it all to say that it could have been a PanAm episode script. The flight described pictures very well the general atmosphere of flying to Moscow in times of cold war. When things go wrong and unscheduled for, in this case an engine failure at take-off and emergency landing, the bureaucracy catches up with the crew and they get stuck in Moscow where they are confronted with the hard reality of the Russian economy. New engine is flown in with and all ends well, but the obstacles faced by the author and crew during this period are pain staking.
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OVERLOADED // DEC81//B732_OO-SDP
EBBR_LFPG_EBCI_EBBR
Reading through this one made my hands sweat. Author, flying as copilot in very bad weather conditions, is faced with an intoxicated pilot-in-command. Certain callouts and regulatory procedures are not followed and copilot is faced to abort landing procedures in BRU, only to find himself trying to land in CRL in even worse conditions. Add to this that he was almost flying on petrol fumes and he was 'saved' by a subtle move of an ATC controller, makes this all the more real.
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RASSUREZ-VOUS, VOUS ETES EN BONNES MAINS // DEC84//B741_OO-SGA
Cool overview of a simulatorflight where this young gamin outclasses his senior colleagues, despite a bad move on BRUNO, for which he is penaltied. Also well described is the warm feeling between technicians and flying personel. Weird to see was that some pilots after many flighthours don't know where certain breakers are for important anunciators. This catches up with them. Adding up to the mystique of those days is the amount of cigarettes being smoked during this one.
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UN CENTIMETRE, PAS PLUS // AUG86 //B741_OO-SGA
KORD_EBBR
As copilot on 747, a Take-off that pushes the limits of all factors that have to be outweighed and calculated; the temp, the taxi fuel, runway length, takeoff weight, a very close call where rotation is forced one cm below callout indicators on the gauge. But of course they made it or we would have heard otherwise. A good lesson in modesty when faced with 300 tonnes, but also shows the stretchability of charts and the amount of reserve that was calculated in by testpilots and manufacturer when charting envelopes.
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UNE LESSON DE MODESTIE // DEC87//B732_OO-SDM
HECA_LCLK
Now a commander on 737, flying with a senior colleague on his right-hand, during hazy landing conditions in Cyprus. At first he can impress the copilot with his knowledge of meteo and anticipating on this during approach, but finals go wrong for him and a go-around is needed due to low vis. The copilot ends up a bit less impressed, but second attempt goes flawless.
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TARGET FASCINATION // JAN89//B732_OO-SDP
EBBR_EDDS
Our pilot confronts himself with the fact that during a landing procedure in low vis, he failed to calculate the picture as a whole and only focused on certain aspects and minimas, crossing his fingers an ATC controller would not bring him the bad news that he was not allowed to land anymore, he wants to get to that outer marker asap so he is regulation-safe. Afterwards he realises that under such bad weather conditions, you must not let this thought take too much upperhand and evaluate constantly whether it is safe to continue a landing procedure, taking all factors in account.
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TEL EST PRIS... // AUG92//B733_OO-SDX
EBBR_EBBR
Testflight of a 737 with the newly fitted CFM-56. Author and his copilot, along with mechanics on board, were so gotten used to the 737-200 engines that they failed to cross-check engine re-start procedures when testing engine failure, and by head used the altitudes/speeds of the old JT8D3. At a lower altitude than anticipated they manage to restart the engine and land witout incident at BRU. Afterwards, an engineer nicknamed Monsieur CFM shoves the correct envelope for these engines under their noses. They had it with them during all the flighttime.
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UN VRAI VOL D'ESSAI// BETW 1994 & 1997 //B732
By far the most entertaining chapter, especially if one is familiar with the Arab culture, their hierarchical structure and way of handling high-end equipment.. A test flight for a Yemen company with colourful testcrew. Author is in copilot seat and is faced with sureal situations, the one more funny than the other, the one more dangerous than the other. My personal favorite was when a Yemen crewmember hastily puts on an oxygen mask when he hears the clacker go off because of overspeed. I am going to spare the other details because I do not want to ruin this with more fun spoilers about this crew and chapter
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A MALIN...// EBBR-LEMG
Our hero optimises his flying and by the smart use of shortcuts and flows manages to get to arrival very early on time, with enough fuel for the return trip. Then iceforming occurs on his wings. At destination very original method is used for de-icing.
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N'EST PAS COMMERCIAL QUI VEUT //BETW 1996 & 1998 //B737
EBBR-LFPG-EBBR
In my opinion this chapter is the climax of know-how (or Savoir faire in the air) of the author in this book. A mix of logistical management combined with communication skills and technical knowledge and anticipation. Frictions between author and a rep at Paris concerning 80 transit pax for an AFI flight at BRU. Technical problems, slot problems, a whole bunch of communicating is done by the pilot to meet the problems and get the pax connected at BRU. It ends up with him taxiing next to the DC10 at the satellite, right in time for boarding the connecting AFI pax. I think this chapter shows his ingenuity and experience after all those years in the best possible way. It is only a shame that afterwards he is confronted with certain new policies at SABENA.
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LA RETRAITE DE RUSSIE // JAN98//B733_OO-SDY
EBBR-UUEE
The flight where Mister Michel is confronted with conditions that catch him out of the blue, and thus after touchdown decides that it is time for him to leave the yokes behind him. A very tense landing in Moscow under very bad conditions is described, comming from high altitude having to come in way to fast in too short distance, trying to lose speed, guided by a controller that wanted to 'quickly' get rid of the flight before a handover. Add a backwind and bad visibility to all this and it is clear that this chapter was tense read.
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Recommended for all to read:)
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Finishing up with the Dutch words on the first page "Waarom zijn het vooral de slechte herinneringen die leerrijk zijn?", thank you for this book Mister(s) Vanvaerenbergh

[sn26567]

Thanks, squelch, for this excellent summary of the book.

[kerditions]

Thank you SO much for this superb review. I have sent the whole post to the author. I am absolutely certain he will enjoy reading it very much.

[airazurxtror]

The author begins the book by writing with humour (my translation) :

I could have, like many others, told the story of the flights where I was brilliant, full of genius or even heroic. It would have been akin to write a multi-volume encyclopedia, and I could have passed away leaving an unfinished work.
I preferred to relate flights where luck has mitigated my deficiencies. I'm not always the only culprit, but I definitely share responsibility for what happened.

And it's just like that. The author, a retired Sabena captain, relates a good dozen of flights, from 1974 to 1998, where something went wrong, due to an error of the crew (they all end up without any harm).
Most interesting and even fascinating but a bit upsetting for the (non-pilot) reader ... and certainly most unusual in that kind of books.

[Sabena320]

Having received the book a few days ago and having read almost half of it already, I must say I enjoy reading this book. French is not my first language, but even then it reads very fluently and the text is nicely written. Chapters are interesting (as described here above) and cover a lot of different situations, both technical wise as CRM wise. However, for the non-aviation minded persons, or people not having too much (technical) knowledge of flying itself, I think the book can be sometimes quite difficult to understand. But for all the others I can really recommend it.

[kerditions]

The book has just been released in digital format, if anyone's interested in reading in on an Amazon Kindle.

You can buy it on: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B007WU25GI

For those of you who are proud owners of iPads and iPhones, the book should be available on the iBookStore some time this week. I'll keep you posted!

[kerditions]

In line with my previous message, please be advised that the book just hit the iBook Store!

http://itunes.apple.com/be/book/souveni ... l=fr&mt=11

Please don't hesitate to write a comment on the iBookStore and/or on Amazon to tell other potential readers what you have thought of it

[kerditions]

Met heel veel plezier kondig ik de Nederlandse versie van de "Souvenirs sans gloire" van Michel Vanvaerenbergh aan. De vertaling is vandaag begonnen en het ziet er al super goed uit.
Het boek wordt vertaald door een pool van drie top-vertalers onder de directie van niet één maar twee ex-Sabena piloten! Zal zeker wat tijd in beslag nemen, maar van zodra ik een uitgavedatum heb zal ik het hier zeker meteen laten weten! Vragen? Aarzel niet om een mailtje of een antwoordje op deze forum te sturen!