‘Zen Pilot’ reveals the spiritual side of flying

A new book by pilot Robert DeLaurentis goes beyond turning dials, throwing switches and cranking ailerons.

“Zen Pilot: Flight of Passion & the Journey Within” is an adventure of the soul, told by a man who has a graduate degree in spiritual psychology and whose 2015 flight around the world forced him to peer into the abyss on a number of occasions, according to the publisher.

DeLaurentis, who also wrote “Flying Thru Life,” projects the excitement of preparing himself and his Piper Malibu, dubbed “The Spirit of San Diego,” for the one-way cross-country flight.

There was no way, however, that he could have anticipated what was lurking just beyond the horizon after each of his 39 takeoffs. Violent weather popped up, electrical and mechanical malfunctions occurred, nightmarish scenarios with government bureaucrats took days, and then there was the definitive stimulant to fear, an engine outage: “I was rocketing toward the ground in an aircraft loaded with high octane aviation fuel. All I could do was negotiate where the impact would happen.”

He says the flight redefined him. He shares some of the more piquant flashes of reality in the “Zen Moments” he sprinkles through his recounting.

“Zen Pilot: Flight of Passion & the Journey Within” by Robert DeLaurentis is available now through Amazon.com, and is free with the purchase of a DeLaurentis Flight Bag from Lightspeed Aviation during a limited promotion.