good aviation-related books?

[bunnyfufu]

i'm looking for a book to read.... something that isn't just a non-fiction book about airplanes or whatever, but more like a book written by a pilot about his experiences flying.. for example, the experiences of a cropduster pilot, or a helicopter pilot, or a fighter pilot in vietnam or something. what are some good books like this?

 

[Andy Neill]

Chickenhawk for helicopter pilot in Vietnam (barely fiction).
Wings to feed your aspirations to become an airline executive (fiction).
Flying the Line I and II and Hard Landing for appreciation of the management/labor relations over the years.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull when you want to get REALLY mellow and to get your eyes above the level of squabbling over a piece of fish.
Nuts to understand how Herb did it.

 

[TriStar_drvr]

Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann is one of the best. A 1940's airline epic. It's my favorite.

Cannibal Queen by Stephen Coontz is a non-fiction acount of his travels across the country in a Stearman. A nice read

 

[Pilotadjuster]

Books

God is My Copilot - Fighter pilot during WWII in China, flying P-40s and DC3s over "the hump"

Baa Baa Black Sheep - Autobiography of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, WWII Marine Corps and Flying Tiger Ace.

Chickenhawk - Andy I thought that was non-fiction? Either way one of the best flying books I have read.

(not sure of the title) - Autobiography of Chuck Yeager

Anything by Earnie Gann - I really like the one already mentioned as well as his fictional work about a WWI fighter pilot.

Stephen Coonts - I love the one mentioned, as well as Flight of the Intruder and the following "Jake Grafton" novels.

 

[Mr Proach]

I'll second Fate is The Hunter - great read.

Just finished NorthStar over My Shoulder - Robert Buck. Brilliant.

In fact, Gann and Buck write similarly (I think) and were mates in the 40's to present day (if Gann is still with us?)

I have yet to read Stick and Rudder, but have only heard good things.

 

[chuychanga]

For Pilot's Eyes Only

This is sort of the memoirs of a Captain who flew over 40 years with Pan Am. Started out flying into Central America on the DC-3 and retired flying around the world on the 747. That's a lot of technology changes in the span of one career. Lot's of funny stories about all the crazy stuff he saw and experienced in his career. Only a couple thousand copies were published, but it is still available on Amazon.

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

I'm probably gonna get slammed for this but I didn't like "Fate is the Hunter". I couldn't get past the first 40 pages. It seemed a bit exagerated. I know it talks about the glory days of aviation and all but it was just a bit of overkill. Something like the phrase, "the captain walked with a certain swagger and everyone knew he was the greatest man alive, yes because he was a pilot", or "beads of sweat formed on his brow, the tension was high, blah blah blah." Those aren't direct quotes but almost. I've been flying for not too many years now and I don't know everything about flying but it just made me want to gag. Way too macho, way too glamorous about flying. What it made me think of was one guy telling his hangar flying stories, which as we all know are just a bit exagerated. Perhaps I'm wrong but I just couldn't get past the first few chapters.

 

[pilotyip]

Moondog

Must read book, answers all the questions you want about starting a career "Moondog Academy of the Air and other disasters" by Pete Fusco. Anyone who does not like "Fate is the Hunter" does not like the sound of round engines.

 

[VNugget]

I'd be very interested in the autobiography of a certain cropduster-turned-fire tanker pilot

 

[furloboy]

"Hornets over Kuwait"
"The First Hellcat Ace"