Annette McCully’s latest book is Visions of Flight: Boeing Test Pilots on Their Lives and Careers and is based on in-depth interviews of seven Boeing test pilots. Four are chief test pilots, involved in the development and testing of individual commercial airplane models including the 737, 747, 787, and 777X, and three are the first Boeing woman pilot, the first Boeing woman test pilot, and a woman test pilot who is a project pilot for the 787 and 777X. In all cases, their passion for flying drove them to pursue the ambitious careers of testing airplanes for Boeing, nearly impossible roles to attain. Their paths to same were intense, requiring extensive education, flying experience, and grit. Their stories of how their careers unfolded and their experiences along the way lead into compelling accounts of flight tests and the relentless pursuit of excellence in airplane performance and safety.

While well-known to Boeing and airline executives, these test pilots are not well-known to the flying public or to most Boeing employees. It is time their stories were told.

Annette McCully is an author/technical writer with 30 years experience. Her environmental management case studies of global organizations appeared regularly in two international presses for years and in two collected works. She is also the co-author of five books on international standards, two from the American Management Association, and three editions of an ISO 14000 handbook from Environmental Resources Management (ERM). Her books were awarded national and international awards by the Society for Technical Communication.

Her most recent aerospace work was as a lead technical writer on the Boeing 787 and 777X Propulsion programs, working with engineers in the development of design documents. While there, she also served on the board of Boeing Women in Leadership.