Martha. Thanks so much for letting us forumites have what i consider way more than a first insight
!! Take the advice of the publisher serious and dont give out too much information that could be included in the book here.
From what i have just read now (last five pages took a while
) you HAVE a talent to narrate! Its the personal experiences you made with the people you met during your journey what makes the book interesting. A listing with something like Bios of all pilots is nearby impossible to include and would definately be cut out in parts by editors. I also think a second book just with these Bios would not be possible to sell. So keep up with what you remember the most interesting parts or encounters of the journey. The logbook you made is a very good thing to help remember the chronology.
At last i have a suggestion that may solve the problem of not beeing able to include every pilots story (-when i think of it, even the pictures of EVERY guy you met there would go beyond the scope of a one volume publication-) and having a bad conscience of not to do so. How about a list at the end of the book (I know this may sound rude but...) like an appendix that lists every flight City A -> City B Pilot & Machine.
Additional you could create then a map where every flight is included with a line (or arrow to indicate flight direction) and then you can give index numbers for the people and aircraft list that will be fitted into the map. This could be the only way to honor ALL of them and not taking too many pages for one volume. I cannot imagine any of them would be disappointed wiht such a solution when they read their name and see such a map. Thats just the idea i got while reading this complete thread. Maybe you have already planned something likely.
Keep up with it and
best regards
Kilian