<i>By the Seat of My Pants&nbsp;</i>is Dean Smith&#39;s story of his life as a flying cadet in WWI, an airmail pilot in the 1920&#39;s and, lastly, as the lead aviator in Admiral Byrd&#39;s 1928 Antarctic expedition. Told in a self-deprecating style with a matter of fact sense of humor, it is an engaging read from start to finish. Passages describe airmail runs heading West with no maps or runways available, and Smith&#39;s exciting take on the Byrd Expedition is a version of events not in the official records.