Good Reading: Any Aviation Books out there?

[Cutlass1287]

"Hard Landing"

 

[seethru]

I loved Cannibal Queen by Stephen Coonts, who has written many aviation related books, including Flight of the Intruder.

I thought Cannibal Queen was great because it involved a type of flying that I, and probably many others in commercial aviation, may not get to enjoy - specifically open cockpit airplanes at relatively low altitudes, slow speeds, and basic VFR piloting.

 

[johnpeace]

North Star Over My Shoulder by Bob Buck

You have got to be kidding!

This was the worst, most self congratulating, self adoring, pompous, self glorifying, egomaniacal story I have ever read! HE carries on for chapter after chapter about what a big shot pilot he was and how great his career was and blah blah blah.

Such a waste of time...I couldn't even finish it. Threw it down after about the halfway point in disgust.

It was so bad I had a hard time buying Weather Flying, but have since come to appreciate it as a definitive work on flying in adverse weather conditions and on understanding weather.

Bob Buck is the most self-centered pilot out there...by far.

 

[flighter]

ChickenHawk..............

 

[Sam Snead]

My favorite aviation novel is "Fate Is The Hunter" by Ernest Gann.

A friend of mine recommended and at first, because of the title, I balked. I was very pleasantly suprised at Gann's style; I think it reads better if you have some professional flying experience.

Anyway, his narrative style is awesome. Even though he's talking about flying for the airlines in the 40's and 50's, there are many timeless elements in his experiences as a pilot.

Read this book!

 

[BD King]

My favorite aviation novel is "Fate Is The Hunter" by Ernest Gann.

A friend of mine recommended and at first, because of the title, I balked. I was very pleasantly suprised at Gann's style; I think it reads better if you have some professional flying experience.

Anyway, his narrative style is awesome. Even though he's talking about flying for the airlines in the 40's and 50's, there are many timeless elements in his experiences as a pilot.

Read this book!

I agree. All of Gann's aviation books are a work of art. Actually, if no one has read anything of Gann, I would recommend his autobiography A HOSTAGE TO FORTUNE first. It is with this book that the reader can get a feel for how unique this guy was, and how he pulled from his personal experiences to create the other works.


www.bdkingpress.com

 

[Slyny]

I highly recommend "Unknown Rider" by Scott Anderson. Scott was an F-16 pilot for the Minnesota Air National Guard in Duluth and was also a Test Pilot for Cirrus Design. He lost his life while testing a Cirrus several years back in Duluth. It's a great book about how he started flying and continues on about UPT and finally flying alert down at Tyndall AFB. Excellent book!

 

[Moonshiner]

I found "North Star Over My Shoulder" enjoyable. It was a bit self-aggrandizing in parts, but I didn't find it as offensive as johnpeace did.

On the other hand, "Unfriendly Skies" by captain "X" is an excercise in bloated self-importance. No offense to klingon67. I loved this book the first time I read it (I received it as a gift Xmas 1991 and thought it was great). I have re-read parts of it recently and can't believe how arrogant and idiotic so much of what this guy says sounds to me now. I couldn't believe I was reading the same book that I enjoyed so much 14 years ago.

"Fate is the Hunter" is another book I read many years ago and several times since. I love it as much now as I did then.

I'm now reading a 1954 classic "Song of the Sky" for the first time. Picked up an old hard cover edition at the Alaska General Store in Anchorage. Navigation, weather, flying the old fashioned way before GPS and Nexrad uplink etc. So far so good.