Help Needed for Book Research
 

Good Afternoon,

I apologize if I am in the wrong part of the forum, but I was wondering if any commercial pilots out there could please help me with some research questions I have, for a fiction book I am writing?

I am based in the UK but the pilot and airline in my book are US-based.

The chapter that I need help on involves a fire onboard a DC10-30 passenger flight from Heathrow to SFO, run by fictional budget (and somewhat dodgy) airline CaliJet. The questions are mainly based around general questions, your job, procedures (**ALL PRE-FLIGHT, FOR NOW, no emergency questions or anything**) and there are a fair few that require imagination (i.e. imagine you find a problem during the pre-flight checks. It has to be minor, but enough to delay the plane by two hours. What could this problem be?).

The book isn't based fully on the fire/flight, rather it's near the beginning of the book and is a catalyst for how the rest of the story pans out. However, this chapter is partly concentrated on the pilot's perspective/life/job and so I need to get into a pilot's head and ways to portray him believably and accurately.

Anyone with experience of DC10s/budget airlines/international airlines would be awesome, but just experience in itself would be fantastic. Oh, and a bit of imagination and a friendly nature would be great too!

I have a Word doc full of questions ready to email. The more help I get the merrier, and your name(s) will appear in the acknowledgments of the book, with a free signed copy upon publication.

I am a professional author, rapidly heading towards 30, with two books already published.

Please email me on [email protected] (I also run creative writing courses to pay the bills - hopefully this book will change that!) if you think you might be able to/would like to aid me in my research.

Thank you for reading,

Rebecca

Sounds like an interesting read, you should find willing help here with that type of experience.

unfortunatly you can't recieve Private messages until you get 10 posts. I'd be willing to help if I can. No DC-10 experience, limited international (all in North America). Definatly got the budget carrier covered. If you want to post your email or something I can get you my contact info.

Hi, I am so sorry - I've only just seen your reply! Thank you so much for your offer of help with my chapter. I've pretty much written it now; would you be interested in going through this first draft with a virtual red marker? Thanks again and I'm so sorry if I appeared rude by lack of response - I'm not the most savvy when it comes to forums!

Thank you, and yes, the help I have received here has been fantastic. You're a good bunch!