Mark Vanhoenacker
Slate
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Past articles by Mark:
I’m a Pilot. I Love Flying to a City Few Travelers Ever Consider.
Let me explain my mad affection for this unsung destination. → Read More
The Case for Making the Beaver America’s National Mammal
Forget the bison. → Read More
Boeing 747 jumbo jet: Pilot farewells the iconic plane
How much do I, a Boeing 747 pilot, love the plane that I fly? It's tough, and maybe a little embarrassing, to answer. → Read More
Boeing 747 cockpit: Pilot reveals the five coolest buttons in a jumbo jet
There are hundreds of other buttons, controls, switches and levers in a Boeing 747, but these are the five you need to know about. → Read More
The five coolest buttons in a 747 cockpit
One of the greatest pleasures of being an airline pilot - aside from the simple joy of flying - is the opportunity to meet some of the travellers on board our flights. These interactions are particularly fun when they take place in our office - that is, in the cockpit itself. (Cockpit visits are sometimes possible before departure, depending on our workload; otherwise, they’re often possible… → Read More
Airports Don’t Have to Be Miserable. Marvel at Them Like a Pilot Does.
If you pack an extra 10 minutes, you may find airports can be marvels. → Read More
What Are These Hot Pink Globes Popping Up Around London?
What’s That Thing is Slate’s column that examines the details of the world that are hiding in plain sight. Send ideas for future columns, along with photos → Read More
What Are Those Drumlike Objects Perched on Buildings?
What’s That Thing is Slate’s column that examines the details of the world that are hiding in plain sight. Send ideas for future columns, along with photos if possible, to whatisthat@markvr.com. On a recent vacation to the tranquil waterside town of Kingston, Washington, I wandered off the folksy main street and saw... → Read More
What’s That Thing Hanging From Lampposts and Power Lines?
What’s That Thing is Slate’s column that examines the details of the world that are hiding in plain sight. Send ideas for future columns, along with photos if possible, to whatisthat@markvr.com. Like all scientists, biologist Craig M. Story is accustomed to wondering about the world around him. Baffled by the purpose of small dumbbell-shaped... → Read More
Why Flying Feels Like Swimming in the Ocean to Pilots
All week Mark Vanhoenacker will be sharing stories about piloting and planes excerpted from his book Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot. Out now from Knopf. Air, in general parlance, is almost always an absence. A synonym for nothing. “It came out of the blue.” “It vanished into thin air.”... → Read More
Do Pilots Appreciate It When Passengers Clap? Our Flying Questions Answered.
All week, Mark Vanhoenacker has been sharing stories about piloting and planes excerpted from his book Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot, out now from Knopf. In what follows, the Slate staff ask Mark to answer their own questions about flying. Andrew Kahn, assistant editor: Do pilots appreciate it when passengers... → Read More
How Pilots Get to Know the Backwaters of the Globe
All week, Mark Vanhoenacker will be sharing stories about piloting and planes excerpted from his book Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot. Out now from Knopf. A pilot may acquire an affectionate awareness of a kind of punctuation or asterisking of the world, composed of the names of small places,... → Read More
What Airline Pilots Think of Their Passengers
All week, Mark Vanhoenacker will be sharing stories about piloting and planes excerpted from his book Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot. Out now from Knopf. Pilots’ interactions with passengers are limited compared to those of the cabin crew, and so, too, are our understandings of the human weight of... → Read More
Why the 747 Is So Revered by Pilots
All week, Mark Vanhoenacker will be sharing stories about piloting and planes excerpted from his book Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot. Out now from Knopf. Occasionally one airplane catches the imagination of pilots and cabin crew, or even of the general public. More than a few colleagues told me... → Read More
Why Do Airplane Windows Have Tiny Holes?
It’s time for another sky-high edition of What’s That Thing, Slate’s column that examines the details of the world that are hiding in plain (or plane) sight. Send ideas for future columns, along with photos if possible, to mark@skyfaring.com. → Read More
What Are the Orange Markings on NYC’s Sidewalks and Streets?
It’s time for another edition of What’s That Thing, Slate’s column that examines the details of the visible world that are hiding in plain sight. Send ideas for future columns, along with photos if possible, to whatisthat@markvr.com. Ever stop to wonder about those scrawled mashups of lines and letters marked out on... → Read More
Why Is There an Arrow on My Hotel Room Ceiling?
It’s time for another international edition of What’s That Thing, Slate’s column that examines the details of the visible world that are hiding in plain sight. Send ideas for future columns, along with a photo if possible, to whatisthat@markvr.com. The décor of the chain hotel room is as straightforward an icon of... → Read More
What Is That Hole in the Tail of an Airplane?
What’s That Thing is Slate’s column examining mysterious or overlooked objects in our visual landscape. Submit suggestions and pics for future columns to whatisthat@markvr.com. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … actually, it’s just a plane. But what’s that hole in the tail? A giant screw hole for towing the aircraft?... → Read More
What Do These New York Road Signs’ Odd Markings Mean?
What’s That Thing is Slate’s column examining mysterious or overlooked objects in our visual landscape. To submit suggestions and pics for future columns, drop us an e-mail. One of the science fiction franchises I loved best as a child was V. Duplicitous alien lizards? Check. Cool, city-shadowing mother ships and... → Read More
What Do These Mexico City Sidewalk Markers Mean?
It’s the first south-of-the-border edition of What’s That Thing, Slate’s column examining mysterious or overlooked objects in the built environment. Wondering about something you’ve seen, at home or abroad? Drop us an email. → Read More