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What's your favorite aviation book?

n5lp said:
Let's make it clear that although Anne may have not been PIC on this flight, she was, most assuredly, a pilot, as well as a wonderful writer. I believe she held the first glider license of any female in the US.

Speaking of which. I just this minute got an e-mail regarding a brand new book about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Although I have not yet read the book, I know the author (a pilot) and discussed the upcoming book with her last winter. She is passionate about the subject and about making it more known what Anne did in aviation.

http://www.amazon.com/Anne-Morrow-L...ef=sr_1_1/104-5529737-5860732?ie=UTF8&s=books
 
A Good Mystery

My favorite so far is "Vans RV Construction Manual." It's a mystery! I've read it a few times - still don't know the outcome!

Sorry, just had to! :rolleyes:
 
The List

As my MT Prop is away for repairs (?%#* stone damage) I have been at a loose end, so I have taken the time to compiled a list of all the books recommended on this post.
Added by me are:

"Dead Weight" by Brian Lecomber
"Turn Killer" by Brian Lecomber
"Talk Down" by Brian Lecomber
Lecomber books are impossible to put down and worth hunting for.

"The Fighter Pilots" by Edward Sims. Sims interviews the best Aces from both sides in WWII and writes about there most memorable mission. He also offers a balance analysis of the fighter on both sides.

"The Power to Fly" by L.J.K Stetright. An unbelievable text on the development of the Piston Aero Engine from the Wright Brothers to the end of the era. Full of technical info, charts, tables and pictures. I got mine for $100 after one years wait on Amazon. I see it is now available for $800.

Pete.
PS. Delta Romeo; Hope this doesn't take up to much of your HD.


?A Gift of Wings? by Richard Bach.
?A Hostage to Fortune? by Ernest K. Gann
?A Test Pilot's Story? by Jeffrey Quill
?A Town like Alice? by Nevil Shute
?Adak? - Andrew Jampoler
?Artful Flying? by Michael Maya Charles
?Autobiography of Eddie Rickenbacker?
?Bax Seat? - Gordon Baxter
?Biplane
?Carrying the Fire? by Mike Collins
?Chickenhawk? by Robert Mason
?Coffee, Tea, or Me??
?Dead Weight" by Brian Lecomber
?Failure is Not an Option? by Gene Kranz
?Fate is the Hunter?
?Flight of passage?
?Flight of the Intruder? by Stephen Coonts
?Flight of the old dog.?
?Fly Low, Fly Fast?: Inside the Reno Air Races by Robert Gandt
?Flying Carpet? - Greg Brown
?Flying the Old Planes?, by Frank Tallman,
?Flying Tiger? by Tex Hill
?FOREVER FLYING? R.A. ?Bob? Hoover's book
?Free Flight?, Douglas Terman
?God is my Copilot?
?I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.?
?Illusions by Richard Bach.?
?IN the Wet? by Nevil Shute
?Instrument Flight Training Manual? by Peter Dogan
?Kill Devil Hill? - Harry Combs
?Night Flight? by Antoine de St. Exupery
?No Parachute? by Arthur Gould Lee?
?North to the Orient? by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
?Nothing by Chance?
?On the Beach? by Nevil Shute
?Piece of Cake? - Derek Robinson
?Reach For The Sky? by Paul Brickhill
?Rolling Thunder,? by Mark Berent
?Round the Bend? by Nevil Shute
?Sailors to the End? by Gregory Freeman
?Skunkworks?
?Sled Driver?
?Slide Rule? by Nevil Shute
?Song of The Sky?, by Guy Murchie
?Space? by James Michener
?Spirit of St. Louis? ? Lindbergh
?Stick and Rudder? by Wolfgang Langewiesche
?Straight On Till Morning?by Mary S. Lovell
?Stranger to the Ground,? by Richard Bach
?Tale of a Tiger? by R. T. Smith
?Talk Down" by Brian Lecomber
?Termite Hill?- Wilson
?The Battle of Britain? by Richard Hough and Denis Richards
?The Big Show? (?Le Grand Cirque) by Pierre Closterman
?The Bridges at Toko-Ri ?by James Michener
?The Fighter Pilots" by Edward Sims
?The First and the Last?
?The Power to Fly" The development of the Piston Aero Engine by L.J.K Stetright
?The Right Stuff,? by Tom Wolfe
?The Shepherd?Fredrick Forsythe's
?The Wild Blue,? by Walter Boyne
?Thirty seconds over Tokyo?
?Thud Ridge,? by Jack Broughton
?Thunderbolt!?- Robert S. Johnston
?To Fly and Fight ? a biography of P-51 Ace Col. ?Bud? Anderson
?True North? - George Erikson
?Trustee from the Toolroom? by Nevil Shute
?Turn Killer" by Brian Lecomber
?Unlocking the Sky: Glen Curtis and the race to invent the airplane?
?Voyager? - Jeana Yeager
?Wager with the Wind?
?West With the Night?
?Where Know Birds Fly? by Phillip Wills
?Wild Blue - Stories of Survival from Air and Space?
?Wind, Sand and Stars? by Antoine de St. Exupery
?Yeager?
?You Want To Build And Fly What?? by Dick Starks
?Zero Three Bravo? - Mariana Gosnell
 
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Could I add "Propellorhead" - Antony Woodward and "The Pre-Astronauts - manned ballooning on the threshold of space" - Craig Ryan.

Entirely different from each other - but both page-turners.

Dave
 
Looking down the list here. Ouch! Thunderbolt by Bob Johnson. Makes out that the Germans were useless. Might make a good Hollywood movie if you liked the last Pearl Harbor one. If you want to read what it was really like- real fear, real horror, against a skilled enemy, written by a real writer, pick up "The Big Show" on this list by Pierre Clostermann. I've read almost every WW2 fighter pilot book ever published. This work stands out. Clostermann was an amazing, talented fellow who just recently passed away. This book was just re-published and updated a few years ago and remains one of the best selling books of its kind.
 
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Ok my list

1. Think Like a Bird by Alex Kimbell
This is written by a British Army aviator in the 1960s - one of the last to be trained to fly light fixed wing aircraft. The aircraft he describes are very humble compared to the ones described in most military aviation books - the Chipmunk, the Auster AOP 9 and the Beaver.

Being an air force brat, I always thought that light aircraft flying didnt really need the discipline and approach that flying "real" aircraft did. However this book showed me that it might actually require MORE discipline.

Alex Kimbell operated in Oman - and the use of the Beaver there is fantastic. He describes how his instructor Mr Summers, who was a WWII Mosquito and RAF jet pilot, tell hims that the essential qualities of the light aircraft had been the same for 40 years (this was the 1960s!) and that real skill was required to fly them.

2. The Dangerous Skies - A. E. Clouston
This is the story of RAF test pilot who took part in the long distance air races (UK- New Zealand, UK-South Africa) and flew the first homebuilt "The Flying Flea"

3. The Flight of the Mew Gull - by Alex Henshaw
Sigh for a Merlin - Alex Henshaw
Flying light airplanes in racing and the adventures of flying a Percival Vega Gull (a Cherokee size airplane) around Africa. The "Sigh for a Merlin" book was about production testing Spitfires during WWII.

4. They Gave Me a Seafire - R Mike Crosley
Up in Harms Way- R Mike Crosley
Flying on carriers with the Royal Navy during WWII
"Up in Harms Way" was about testing the first jets off carriers

5. Pilot - by Tony Le Vier
Lockheed test pilots story

6. America from the Air: An Aviator's Story by Wolfgang Langewiesche
Flying a J-3 Cub around America after learning to fly in the big radial engine biplanes

7. Flight of Passage: A Memoir by Rinker Buck
Two teenage boys fly a Piper PA-12 coast-to-coast
 
Very difficult, so many great ones. Here are a couple not yet mentioned:

Fly for Your Life, by Larry Forrester, originally published 1956 in Great Britain. It is a simply unbelievable true story about RAF pilot Stanford Tuck.

First Man, by James Hansen, biography of Neil Armstrong. Very well researched, authorized biography of someone who really just wants to be remembered as an engineer.

Gabby, a Fighter Pilot's Life, by Francis Gabreski. Gabreski's story is one of the best WWII fighter pilot's story that I've read, perhaps second only to the first book listed above. I believe he had about 35 kills between WWII and Korea.

Mirage, by James Follet. This is not a flying book per se, but details the true story of how a young Israeli ex-fighter pilot conspired to steal a quarter million drawings of the French Mirage fighter. His motivation was the fact that the French had filched out on a deal to sell the badly needed fighters to Israel. Five years later, the Israeli Aircraft Industries produced their first copy of the Mirage, the Kfir. Fascinating story.
 
First Light

I just finished reading the Fall 2006 issue of Sportsman Pilot wherein Jack Cox gives a very favorable review of the book "First Light" by Geoffrey Wellum. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. 2002).

I'm still waiting for "Around the Bend" from Amazon.

Bob Axsom
 
Added to List

Thanks Bob,
I have added it to the list which I shall update from time to time.

I bought ?Carrying the Fire? by Mike Collins from Amazon on someone's recommendation.
I read a book a week (Lately, mostly about American politics and Foreign Policy) and I must say ?Carrying the Fire? is one of the most moving books I have read in years.

Pete.
 
Too many to pick just one favorite... But here are a couple of recents...


Fiction- Piece of Cake- Derek Robinson

Nonfiction- Chickenhawk- Robert Mason

tc <><
 
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Poberezney the Story Begins, Aiming High, Fool's Errand

I read these books at least a couple of years ago and have them on my bookshelf.

Pobererezney the Story Begins. This is a very special book, especially for EAA members, because it gives a look into aviation during its formative years, the aviation and life experiences that shaped the man and woman who went on to develop the EAA and the emergence the organization through years of "always forward - never doubt the need" work. These people, Paul and Audrey Poberezney, are what make the book so special. This is not just a little pump-up propaganda book about an organization.

Aiming High by Jon Johanson, about him and his RV-4. A very inspiring personal book about a very unique man and his homebuilt plane. This book is so good you would think it a novel if you didn't know it is true. Young people (and not so young people) with inferiority complexes should read this to show them that their situation is not unique and seemingly insurmountable obsticles can be overcome from within. For the over the hill gang like me, well, it is just an amazing true story.

Fool's Errand by Marc Norman, a novel that I read more than 20 years ago and involving Ford Tri-motors with flight operation sequences that I still remember. Inside the cover I wrote "Great Story".

Bob Axsom
 
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Update

Here's an the update of recent additions to the original list I posted.
A complete list, as a WORD document, is available from [email protected]
Pete.

?Aiming High? by Jon Johanson
?America from the Air: An Aviator's Story? by Wolfgang Langewiesche
?First Light? by Geoffrey Wellum. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. 2002).
?First Man, by James Hansen, biography of Neil Armstrong.
?Flight of Passage?: A Memoir by Rinker Buck
?Fly for Your Life,? by Larry Forrester
?Fool's Errand? by Marc Norman
?Gabby, a Fighter Pilot's Life,? by Francis Gabreski.
?Mirage, by James Follet.
?Pilot - by Tony? Le Vier
?Pobererezney the Story Begins? by Paul Pobererezney.
?Propellorhead? - Antony Woodward
?Sigh for a Merlin? - Alex Henshaw
?The Dangerous Skies? - A. E. Clouston
?The Flight of the Mew Gull? - by Alex Henshaw
?The Pre-Astronauts - manned ballooning on the threshold of space? - Craig Ryan
?They Gave Me a Seafire? - R Mike Crosley
?Think Like a Bird? by Alex Kimbell
?Up in Harms Way?- R Mike Crosley
 
Whats your favorite book?

Biplane / Richard Bach / forgot what he traded for a Fleet Biplane but he picked up the Fleet in Lumberton, N.C. and proceeded to fly it back home (west coast) via Myrtle Beach, S.C. Lots of repairs and off airport landings (fields) / it was a good read 30 years ago / wish I could find it again!
Randy Utsey
N55CU reserved
RV-7 Charlotte, N.C.
Finish kit
 
1946 Fairchild 24

N55CU said:
Biplane / Richard Bach / forgot what he traded for a Fleet Biplane but he picked up the Fleet in Lumberton, N.C. and proceeded to fly it back home (west coast) via Myrtle Beach, S.C. Lots of repairs and off airport landings (fields) / it was a good read 30 years ago / wish I could find it again!
Randy Utsey
N55CU reserved
RV-7 Charlotte, N.C.
Finish kit

The plane he "traded in" was a 1946 Fairchild 24 according to the book. I bought a copy in Crown bookstore in 1990. I would be surprised if you can't get it through Amazon.com. I agree it is very good.

Bob Axsom
 
"Bored Nothing to Do"
Not one for adults really but if you have young kids with an interest in aviation they'll love it.
 
HERESY

While "Stick and Rudder" is supposed to be ooohed and aahed over by every pilot, I have to admit it didn't do much for me.

-mike
 
Since Peter Dredged This Back Up....

When this thread first appeared, I wasn't at home. Now that I am sitting here in my study, here are a couple I have that aren't on the list....

"The Sudden Sky" - B. Michelaard - two German brothers, both learn to fly in gliders after WW1, one becomes an aeronautical engineer as well as a pilot, the other joins the Luftwaffe...follows them all through their lives - outstanding story, and lots of good flying stuff!

Maybe these Lindbergh books have already been mentioned - "We" and "The Last Hero". Growing up in Minnesota as an aviation nut, there is no way that Lindbergh wouldn't be high on my "hero" list!

Now don't laugh....but there was a children's book that I remember called "Ann Can Fly". I remember looking at the pictures before I could read. Very well illustrated story about a girl being taken across the country by her father in his Cessna float plane - covers the flight planning, flying, etc.....Got a kid you want to hook at an early age? Find a copy!

Oh, and Pete, yes, I have a signed copy of Gene's book ("Failure is Not an Option"), and Chris's (Flight)..... Of course, we all had to pay for our copies - retired civil servant authors can't afford to give them away! ;)

Paul
 
Piece of Cake

Without a doubt, Piece of Cake. Get the BBC produced movie while you are at it. No better footage of Spits anywhere even though the book was based on a Hurricane squadron.

Lucky
 
My favorite is...

Kelly...More than my share of it all.

The autobiography of Clarence L Johnson; the father of the skunkworks. Designed and built the F-80 in 143 days.

A great read.
 
Clarification

Joe, For 'The List', I assume it is;
"Kelly...More than my share of it all." by Clarence L Johnson.
Pete.
 
Ironflight said:
Now don't laugh....but there was a children's book that I remember called "Ann Can Fly". I remember looking at the pictures before I could read. Very well illustrated story about a girl being taken across the country by her father in his Cessna float plane - covers the flight planning, flying, etc.....Got a kid you want to hook at an early age? Find a copy!

Paul
Wow... that brought back memories from... oh... second grade! That was a favorite of early childhood. Funny how that book still sticks in my mind after all these years. A couple other favorites that I read as a kid were:

Reach for the Sky
Flying Fortress
And of course - "A Gift of Wings"
 
Biggles books for kids

Ironflight said:
Now don't laugh....but there was a children's book that I remember called "Ann Can Fly". I remember looking at the pictures before I could read. Very well illustrated story about a girl being taken across the country by her father in his Cessna float plane - covers the flight planning, flying, etc.....Got a kid you want to hook at an early age? Find a copy!

Paul

Also, a boys book (I know that's not very PC, but....) to get youngster hooked....

Any of the Biggles books by Capt. W E Johns.... and there are a lot of them... :)
Good adventure stories for pre-teenagers...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b...lias=stripbooks&field-keywords=biggles++johns

gil in Tucson

Walked to the local library in Liverpool when I was a kid and read them all... ;)
 
I'm pleased to see that Derek Robinson has been mentioned, but only in regards to his "Piece of Cake".
I actually found his "A Good, Clean Fight", about the airwar in the desert of North Africa during WWII, at least as good. He has other titles too, about aviation in the First World War.
And most of the titles mentioned previously bring back terrific memories. I think Johnson's description of flogging his shot-up Thunderbolt back home( in the book with the same name), with every Luftwaffe plane along the way courteously taking turns shooting at him until they had expended all there rounds, until finally a bullet even carries away the movement from his wristwatch, leaving the strap intact, with so many holes in the wings that he can hear the screaming sound his plane is making and see the ground going by beneath, while feeling the armor-plated seatback jumping constantly as it did its job is one of the most enthralling stories I have ever read, and a great tribute to an unbelievably-sturdy bird.
IIRC, there were nineteen bullet holes in the prop blades alone. He couldn't bail out as the canopy rails had been smashed by a cannon shell that opened up the fuselage behind the cockpit like the foil top on a plate of microwave popcorn.
Two excellent books about flying Sabres in the RCAF were written by Chick Childerhose, but I can only recall the title of one at the moment: Splash One Tiger.
British publisher Ian Allen has a series called "From the Flightdeck" and I have three of them: an un-numbered one about flying the Harrier, number 2 about "flying" the Space Shuttle, and number 5 about the Concorde. One of the others is about the BaE 146, I believe.
David L. Bashow's book about his ( and his squadron mates') experiences flying the Starfighter in Europe is both fascinating and hilarious, with such antics as unintentionally lobbing a "shape" ( a concrete simulation of a nuclear weapon) right outside the boundaries of the range on the North Sea and scoring a direct hit on a Russian elint-gathering "trawler" and getting lost in the European haze and wandering around until sighting an airfield, only to recognize rows of Migs!
A book that I loaned out and was never returned is called "The Plan: Memories of the BCATP". Very interesting read about the sudden gearing up and flooding of Canada with airfields, buildings, staff and airplanes almost overnight, with plenty of reminiscenses (sp?) from flying instructors and cadets. An insight: before Pearl Harbor, the US could not be seen to be helping any nation at war, so there was a steady stream of new Texans flying from California up to the grass strip at Sweetgrass, Montana, which is located and oriented such that the centre of the runway was the border. The North American ferry pilot would egress, a team of horses would drag the new airplane to the north side of the runway, which just happened to be Cutbank, Alberta, and a uniformed RCAF pilot would strap in and fly it to one of dozens of training fields across the nation.
Murray Peden's "A Thousand Shall Fall". I can't say enough about this book; those that have read it will understand. Lancasters in WWII. "Boys, Bombs, and Brussel Sprouts" is close second.
Bert Stile's "An Ode to the Big Bird". B-17's in the Mighty Eighth, and the book just comes to the most-jarring stop, not even an end, as Bert was writing it as he flew missions, and he just didn't come back from one, and the book was published just like that.
No one has yet mentioned the novels by John J. Nance, although they are mostly airline-oriented, and have led me to have a too-short sleep more than once on a layover, as they're hard to put down. Much like Stephen Coonts and the Intruder, his description of flying the 767 or 747 can only come from one who has actually been there. The tale of a wounded 747 dragging its tail by the control cables down the runway somewhere in mid-Atlantic while being repeatedly targetted by an armed bizjet is compelling stuff. Or force-landing a 767 on a frozen lake in Northern Canada in the dark and during a snowstorm, fixing it, and actually taking off again: well, what more can I say.
A satirical series based on aviation in the First World War was informally referred to as The Bandy Papers, and the descriptive scenes of his encounter ( getting trapped, actually) in a long decommissioned bathtub and test-jumping different parachute designs while drunk ( his CO was actually hoping he would be killed) or force-landing his biplane on top of his commanding officer can only be topped by his description of the first time he laid eyes on the woman who would become his wife: she had the vacant smile of the truly stupid. All I can remember is that each of the titles had the word "Me" in it somewhere, and two of them were, "That's Me in the Middle" and,"It's Me Again".
"Gunship" by Zwebel is another one that I cherished but a "friend" chose not to return. Terrific real-life experiences flying Herk gunships along the HoChiMinh trail every night.
"Down to a Sunless Sea", about the ultimate horror: a total nuclear exchange, and what happens to the aircraft over the Atlantic in the dark when it occurs. The ending is as heart-wrenching as "On the Beach".
Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" was not mentioned, I believe.
Guy Murchie's "The World Aloft" has already been mentioned, but I confess that, although I have had it for many years and read it several times, he leaves me in the dust towards the end, talking about spirituality, existentalism, other-worldly stuff. I don't even know what it's called, being just a dumb airplane builder...
Scott in Vancouver
 
WOW!

Scott, I mentioned the "Spirit of St. Louis" in the first post but I have never read a post with more sincere sharing thought brhind it. I am going to print your post and hit amazon.com again. This thread has made one thing very clear to me - we like our flying books - deeply.

Bob Axsom
 
Time

Scott,
I have added most to the list and sent you a private email for clarifcation of others.

Where do you find time to build an RV with all this reading.
Pete.
 
Thanks

Thanks to you guys for posting your favorite books.

This thread has given me a good "choose from" list to give to my family for my Christmas list. (They're afraid they'll buy the wrong tool or RV accessory, and that usually becomes a gift certificate, so the book list should be better.)

I haven't read this book yet, but here's another worthy of consideration. Barry Schiff in his latest article in AOPA Pilot says the short book, The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth is a good addition to an aviation library. Even though I am going to put it on my list, I would still like to hear any comments from anyone familiar with The Shepherd.

Quoting Barry Schiff from his article "...My favorite Christmas tale was penned by best-selling author Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, and The Dogs of War). He wrote an aviation story, The Shepherd, as a Christmas present for his wife, Carole.

The short page-turner involves a Royal Air Force pilot flying a de Havilland Vampire from Germany to his home in England at night on Christmas Eve, 1957. While over the North Sea, the pilot experiences a total electrical failure. Fog has formed along the entire route and bailing out into the frozen sea would be as certain a death as going down with the airplane into fog over land. The pilot is concerned that this Christmas Eve is going to be his last.

What happens next is what makes the tale so hauntingly powerful. This is my holiday gift to you. Locate a copy of this small book ? it is a fast read ? and I know that you will find the remarkable ending both beautiful and unforgettable."

Sounds like a good read to me.
Thanks again,

Don

Update: GULP!!! AMAZON's price for it used is $99.99!!! Looks like I won't get that book for Christmas!
 
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The Shepard

Don,

Try Amazon UK. Much cheaper, I guess there are lots of used copies floating around the UK?

Phil
 
"Fix on the Rising Sun"

"Fix on the Rising Sun", by Charles N. Hill, is a favorite of mine due to the fact that I know the author personally, and found that we had much to talk about concerning Amelia Earhart, a subject of great interest to both of us.
The book is a great, but technical read about events leading up to WW2.
Charlie has taken a lot of flak for his writings and has a web site:
www.hawaiiclipper.com/

The book is available in paper cover at Amazon and others for about $12.00-$16.00

Google the title for more info about the author and book.
 
I liked "The Compleat Taildragger Pilot" by H.S. Plourde. I read it before getting my TW endorsement and it was a great help.

A fun read is "Wager with the Wind" by James Greiner. It's a biography of Don Sheldon, an Alaskan bush pilot. Some of the stories will stand your hair on end.

I'm currently reading "Better Aerobatics" by Alan Cassidy. It was recommended by my aerobatics instructor. It gives nice details on what's going on aerodynamically in different maneuvers, which fits well with my engineering personality.
 
The best WWII book I

ever read is "The Big Show" by Pierre Closterman. Pierre was a French fighter pilot with the RAF. The book was written from his journal and letters to his parents back in France. ( I don't think he mailed them, he just wrote to them)
Very good read.
 
PRESS ON- YEAGER

THE FLYING TIGER'S DIARY- CHARLIE BOND

GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME !!!!!!
 
Best aviation book

"West With the Night", Beryl Markham

A very poetic book about a young aviatrix flying in east africa in the 1930's. Hemmingway commented that the quality of writing in this book is superb.
 
Slide Rule & Round the Bend

I just finished reading "Round the Bend" by Nevil Shute at 4:20 in the morning while my wife sleeps peacefully and I will join her soon. I read "Slide Rule" a week ago. I read both Nevil Shute books after learning about them here. I was able to get them through abebooks.com and they were a pleasure to read. Thanks.

Robert Buck died recently. He wrote "Weather Flying" and "North Star Over My Shoulder" which I enjoyed reading and I have in my library. "Weather Flying" is knowledge acquired through his exposure to weather passed on to the reader in a personal way. "North Star Over My Shoulder" is his fascinating autobiography. He was written up in Time magazine but I have seen nothing in the aviation press that I receive - seems a little surprising.

Bob Axsom
 
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Bob
I must get my copy of "Round The Bend" out and re read it. As with your recent experience, Neville Shute's books are a delight. Whilst arguably a bit old fashioned now, he wrote gentle, uplifting and very readable novels.
John
PS Isn't "abe" a great source?
 
For the testosterone challenged....

....or anyone whose passion in aviation focusses on small, uncontrolled GA airports and the communities around them, I vote for Zero 3 Bravo (Mariana Gosnell) . I just finished it today (thanks, Pardue!) and loved it. No flash or brash, just extraordinarily well-written prose about general aviation as I have experienced it.
 
Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg

Into the Silk: True Stories of the Caterpillar Club
by Ian Mackersey- Incredible tales of people whose lives were saved by parachutes. Out of print and hard to find.

FYI - check WorldCat to locate books in a library near you.
 
The Few

Story of the 8 servicemen from the USA who not only fought in the Battle of Brittain, they violated the USA's strict neutrality laws for doing so!

In other words they pretty much signed away their US citizenship to fly Spitfires.

One of the guys after becoming an ACE pilot in a Spit was killed in a CFIT accident...As I was doing my IFR training at the time it struck home pretty hard..I mean there is this guy who describes whatching cannon shells pass through his cockpit ...survives all that figthing day after grueling day and then smacks into the ground in cloud!


Woah!

Frank
 
Fate is the Hunter

:) My vote is for "Fate is the Hunter" too. :) I also look forward to reading some more of the great list compiled by fodrv7 from this thread. Thanks, George
parashak said:
Fate is the Hunter
Rosie said:
"Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann
Kyle Boatright said:
As others have said "Fate is the Hunter" is unquestionably the best aviation book of all time.
N184JG said:
Tex Hill Flying Tiger,Fate Is The Hunter,Yeager,I Could Never Be So Luckey Again.
Stephen Lindberg said:
All the books mentioned are good/great and most are on the shelf behind me right now. But hands down my favorite over the years has always been "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest K. Gann.
RV7Guy said:
Fate is the Hunter--- Probably the best.
jonbakerok said:
OK, all my top favorites have been mentioned (especially Fate is the Hunter, Flight of Passage, and Cannibal Queen),
Scott_F said:
I'll throw in another vote for "Fate is the Hunter"?.
fodrv7 said:
I have taken the time to compiled a list of all the books recommended on this post.
 
Favorite aviation book?

My favorite book ?

Hmmm, there are so many good ones, and most are mentioned above. (What a literate group we are, n'est ce pas?)

I'll mention a title about which likely few aviation readers have heard.

Flying in Northern California, by Tom Parker

(Yep, I wrote it.) It was fun collecting information for the book, and writing it was even more so. It's now way out date, and I no longer sell it.

For a while, it was listed on the Amazon site, as an out-of-print title. (I think I was dead last on their sales ranking.) So, I have actually authored a rare book.

Regards all - - Tom
 
CHICKENHAWK -Robert Mason
Not mentioned often here, but in my top 5 aviation stories ever read. Everyone whom I recommended it to could not put it down till it was finished.
EJ
 
In addition to the fine examples already noted, I?ll add these:

?The Untouchables? by Brian Shul
?Once a Fighter Pilot? by Jerry W. Cook
?The Black Watch? by Ernest K. Gann
?Because I Fly? edited by Helmuth H. Reda
?Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane? by Greg Brown
?100 Missions North? by Ken Bell (B.Gen. USAF, retired)
?When Thunder Rolled? and ?Palace Cobra? by Ed Rasimus
?Bury Us Upside Down? by Rick Newman and Don Sheppard
?We Seven? by the Mercury Astronauts

?and finally, a story about a truly heroic pilot, Lance Sijan, that I think every person on the planet should read:

?Into the Mouth of the Cat? by Malcom McConnell. Prepare to have your outlook on life changed by this book.
 
Yeager; Forever Flying; George Preddy-Top Mustang Ace; Flight of Passage; Return with Honor; A Flying Fighter, The Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose, & Billy Mitchell... Thanks to this thread, my next read will be Doolittles "I could never be so lucky again."
 
Not yet available

If this thread goes on long enough, perhaps I will see "Empty Skies," the story of the destruction of all the aircraft after WWII. Hmmmm.. Don't think that would be my favorite either. But I am writing it. If anyone has any pics/info that you think would be helpful, let me know. It is a tough research project.

A good book I haven't seen mentioned is "Stuka Pilot." I did get to fly with a couple of Luftwaffe aces, so it held a lot of interest for me.

Bob Kelly
 
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It Is This Way With Men Who Fly

I'd like to add this little gem to the list. Written by the late Frank K. Thomas, it is a collection of all sorts of short stories, notes, and oddities about aviation. "Five Dollar Frank", as he was known, was my first introduction to "small" planes. As the name implies, he was known for giving $5 airplane tours of the New River Gorge. Frank gave these tours in his 172 and was based at the Fayetteville International Airport, which he built in his backyard. Frank was one of the most unique people I've ever met, and anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him would likely agree. At the time of my ride, approximately 9 years ago, he was in his 80s and could hardly hear a thing, even with his hearing aid. His preflight included checking the fuel with a stick he picked up off the ground. Anyhow, it would make a great little bathroom book, and you can pick it up on Amazon.com for cheap.
 
I first read Slide Rule ( a Christmas present to my father) as a boy; Dad's copy is now by my bed, and it really hasn't dated. "Fate is the Hunter" - also first read as a boy - completely gripping. Read "Bomber" by Len Deighton. The BBC did a "real time" reading a few years ago. Those of us who have never been to war should read this and be grateful to have been spared the experience.

Two WW1 reads that are also gripping but that I haven't seen mentioned are "Sagittarius Rising" by Cecil Lewis and "Winged Victory" by Victor Yeates.

Other recent good reads which may not have reached the US yet are:

"First Light" by Geoffrey Wellum (WW2 battle of Britain and Malta);
"Vulcan 607" by Rowland White (Falklands)
"Hostile Skies" by David Morgan (Falklands)

But my all time favourite - what a shame it was made into such a dire movie - "Flight of the Intruder".

Chris
 
rv7rv7 said:
..."Five Dollar Frank", as he was known, was my first introduction to "small" planes. As the name implies, he was known for giving $5 airplane tours of the New River Gorge...


My wife is from that area, and all the locals knew of Five Dollar Frank. I never got the opportunity to meet him as he had passed away before I met Debbie, but I wish that I had.
 
Favorite read

Another vote for Fate is the Hunter - a must read! Also Bach's Biplane is very entertaining. Also another vote forYeager, which I read a dozen times in high school and loved every word.
Some others that may not be the best of all time, but worth reading:

No Visible Horizon - Josh Ramo (non-fiction story about the author as an aerobatic competitor - current)
Fire and Air - Patty Wagstaff (interesting life story)
Lost Moon - Jim Lovell (Apollo 13 mission)
 
The Sky Beyond.

I have just read The Sky Beyond, which I found on my bookshelf, a book probably unknowingly inherited from my father.
Since this post came out I have read some fabulous recommendations.
In particular
?Thunderbolt!?- by Robert S. Johnston &
?Carrying the Fire? by Mike Collins

Thank you to whoever recommended them.

The Sky Beyond is as good as anything I have read. It is a Biography of P. G. Taylor (Also known as Gordon Taylor and Sir Gordon Taylor) describing his life from WWI fighter pilot through epic pioneering flights with Kingsford-Smith in the thirties and establishing air routes across the Pacific in 30hr flights in PBYs. There iis also a glorious description of flying the Spitfire.
He is an author who's description is both beautiful and real. It is as if you are with him in the cockpit.
There are a couple of copies available a Amazon. Be quick.
SKY BEYOND, THE (Air and Space Series, No 19) by Gordon Taylor (Mass Market Paperback - Nov 1, 1991)
2 Used & new from $44.95

For those who's wives and girlfriends did not give you a supply of books for 2008 at Chrsitmas, attached is a list of recommendations since I last updated the list.
For those who want the complete list, sorted by both author and title email [email protected]

Pete.

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