FUNKYPILOT JOURNALS: A Pilot’s Journey from Flight Deck Chaos to A Highly Questionable Flight School is Book One of a series that opens on seasoned Captain Jack Williams and his capable First Officer Lando Harris as their typical flight routine is interrupted by a plane malfunction and emergency landing. The story then jumps back in time, showing the stressors and tensions of the past few months that led them to this point before continuing on to the impact the emergency landing has on both their careers.
Chapters are sandwiched between a one-page comic panel and a short “Captain’s Log," which dives into various aviation topics. For readers who want to learn more detailed technical terms and concepts, footnotes at the end of the book provide additional context. (Choosing to skip them does not impact one’s comprehension of the overarching narrative.)
The mixed format effectively balances information with entertainment, giving readers a glimpse into aviation without overwhelming the story. Some of the technical topics covered include the mechanics of flight, standard checklist procedures, pilot licensing requirements, and links to free Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) handbooks. Author Vesa Turpeinen excels at sharing these complicated concepts in short, humorous snippets—especially when Jack introduces information to a trio of flight-obsessed neighborhood kids. Beyond technical topics, the “Captain’s Log” sections also delve into pilot fatigue, mental health resources, barriers to advancement, medical requirements, and labor rights issues. Being a pilot is often seen by outsiders as a fairly glamorous occupation, but Turpeinen makes sure that readers understand the many struggles that pilots may face in their careers.
Sharing the story through both Jack and Lando’s perspectives shows the complex and sometimes contradictory tolls that piloting can take on people in different positions. As one of the few seasoned captains for FunkyAir Airlines, Jack is overworked to the point of burnout. He flies for 12-day stretches, and his vacation requests keep getting denied. Meanwhile, Lando is one of many first officers trying to scrape his way into a captain position; Lando only gets assigned to flights once a week at most, but is expected to remain on-call—making it hard to supplement piloting with another job or make ends meet. While Jack and Lando begin the story as a solid team, these conflicting stressors (paired with a lack of understanding of what the other is going through) slowly erode their relationship in a highly believable way.
Because FUNKYPILOT JOURNALS is based on a series of comics, there are a few places where the transition to a long-form prose story feels a bit disjointed. Every character clearly began as a caricature of a specific theme or stereotype, and some—like union leader Frank Power Unity and tax collector Mike Ambush—remain one-dimensional, while Jack and Lando feel much more fleshed out. Also, after a realistic first half, the narrative suddenly veers into absurdism when geese and a talking pig join the cast of human characters. That said, this is just the first installment, so it will be exciting to see how Turpeinen further deepens the characters and this world in future volumes.
Readers who are afraid of flying should proceed with caution, as FUNKYPILOT JOURNALS pairs reassurances (Pilots undergo so much training! There is a checklist/procedure for every possible scenario!) with outlines of the many ways that flights can go wrong. However, teens and adults interested in aviation are sure to find this book an engaging, accessible, laugh-out-loud introduction to piloting.
With passion and wry humor, Vesa Turpeinen’s FUNKYPILOT JOURNALS: A Pilot’s Journey from Flight Deck Chaos to A Highly Questionable Flight School invites teen and adult readers into the fascinating and complicated world of a commercial airline pilot.
~ Cameron Gillespie for IndieReader