Bliss Knight - Commercial Pilot

Welcome Bliss Knight, pilot, horsewoman, and author of Air Affair, the story of her life as a commercial pilot.

Tell me about your connection to the world of flying.

I began flying in my heart when I was eight years old. I wanted to possess a skill I thought no one could take from me. I wanted to see big things little and feel bigger inside, and pass up birds all the while, smiling. I wanted to be independent, not chattel like my mother, and make enough money to have horses in numbers.

I was always an avid reader of foreign adventure: Gunga Din, Marco Polo, and Hemingway. Growing up in Alaska before statehood and television, during the long hours of winter darkness, I read and did homework by lantern light in a corner of our log cabin. I wondered about other people and how they lived and I wanted to see the world and all that was in it. I made up my mind to be an international airline pilot.

Tell be about your memoir, Air Affair.

When I took early retirement from international flying on the Lockheed 1011 for Delta Airlines, I determined to follow my airline career with a commentary on the adventure of it all.

Air Affair took eleven years of middle-of-the night work to write while my days were filled with training horses. My notes filled a 4.5 feet long file cabinet drawer. I assembled the details of a plot that thickens. There is romance, the magic of flight, and beauty of the earth below. I filled the pages with the exploration of other countries, flying adventures, and plenty of male harassment. Some say my writing is nearly lyrical, especially when the magnificence of the world is viewed with a poetic eye.

I wanted Air Affair to be a work of cognitive reflection. In the area of philosophy, there are thoughts on the value of the psychological contract – the unwritten (and sometimes, unspoken) contract between employer and employee which assures continuance of the relationship. People leave jobs more often because they feel unfulfilled and too big for the job, rather than for more money, as happens in Air Affair.

Often, it is not the destination but the trip. I had many adventures along the way, from flying air ambulance with gaseous cadavers sitting up to dropping smoke jumpers and slurry on forest fires. I also realized that one of my strong suits is teaching.

Is flying a part of your current life?

I have all the pre-requisite licenses and ratings and continue to fly a Cessna 206 and await delivery of our new Kodiak from the 2,500 foot airstrip on my ranch. Flying has done for me what I wanted it to do. I am independent, have horses in numbers, and have seen a lot of the world.

What do you like to read?

I like books of cognitive reflection. My favorite flying book is West with the Night by Beryl Markham.

What are you writing now?

Currently, I am researching and writing a book with two working titles: Hail to the Chief and A Rosebud Sunrise, about horses and their past and present value, and The Oil Sanction, a treatise on being an independent in the oil business.

Thanks Bliss for visiting and good luck with your new plane and your book.

Bliss Knight flew for Western and Delta for a total of 21 years, 
retiring from Delta in 1997. 

Air Affair describes her experiences and love of flying and airplanes. 

Bliss is currently an active horsewoman in Arizona.

Air Affair can be ordered from the author for 
$18 plus $2.77 S&H

Send an email to fbr@commspeed.net. 

Also available from Barnes &Nobel, Amazon, and bookstores.