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Whatcha readin'?

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hyper

We got "change" alright.
Joined
Nov 26, 2001
Posts
469
Just curious what aviation related books ya'll would recommend, fiction or non-fiction. I'm usually attracted towards the non-fiction side as my brain's like a sponge (just wish I could retain). But I just killed Stephen King's Dreamcatcher as a non-aviation-fiction break and was wondering what I should read next.

So, watcha readin'?
 
Anything by Ernie Gann is a sure bet. Most are out of print but usually found at your local library or thru Amazon.com out of print service.



Fate is the Hunter (best)
Gentlemen of Adventure
In the Company of Eagles
A Hostage to Fortune (autobiography)
The High and the Mighty
Blazes of Noon

The Trouble with Lazy Ethel
Island in the Sky
Fiddler's Green
Soldier of Fortune
Of Good and Evil

WWII Flying books:

Yeager
The Wild Blue (Stephen Ambrose)

For non aviation WWII all the Ambrose books are great

D-Day
Citizen Soldiers
Eisenhower
Band of Brothers
Pegasus Bridge
Ike's Spies


Flight Discipline (Tony Kern)


All are worth reading.
 
Recommended summer reading

I've read the following during the past few months:

Flying the Line Volumes I and II by George Hopkins.

Hard Landing by Thomas Petzinger, Jr. is a great read about Frank Lorenzo, Dick Ferris and those other fine chaps of the times.

All are available for relatively cheap on amazon.com.

I ordered the Turbine Pilot's Flight Manual by Brown and Holt last spring. I've flipped through it and am impressed with the plain-English explanations of systems. Also, the sections about hiring, initial training and weather are terrific. I've yet to sit down and really study it, though.

Happy reading.

PS-I was writing as the post above went on. I bought and read Yeager years ago and enjoyed it tremendously. I've never read anything by Stephen Ambrose, but if his written works are anything like his TV documentaries, they are bound to be quality.

Since employment concerns are a major topic here, let me suggest the following book: Every Employee's Guide to the Law by Lewin Joel III. It addresses nearly every situation found in the workplace and is extremely well documented.
 
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I liked:

Fate is the Hunter, by Ernest Gann
Flight of the Old Dog, by Dale Brown
Flight of the Intruder & Final Flight, by Stephen Coontz
May Day, by Thomas Block
Kill Devil Hill, by Harry Comb

Great reads!:cool:

Airframe, by Michael Chrichton
 
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I always highly recommend Flight of Passage, by Rinker Buck. It's a true story about a 17 y.o. and his 15 y.o. brother (the author) who plan and execute a TRUE cross country flight after restoring a Cub, and their experiences along the way. The family dynamics play a large part of the story, and they reminded me a lot of my relationships with my father and brothers.

I'm just starting (again) The Spirit of St. Louis, by none other than Lindbergh himself. No review needed here. An amazing story from the only person who should really tell it.
 
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Fate is the Hunter by Ernie Gann is definitely one of the best books about flying ever written.
Richard Bach is great when he writes about flying...Stranger to the Ground, Nothing by Chance, Biplane, A Gift of Wings; I lose interest completely when he gets into his metaphysical New Age
writings.
Right now I am reading North Star Over My Shoulder by Bob Buck, an autobiography that follows him from learning to fly in the 1930s, to starting as a TWA copilot in 1937, to retiring as a 747 captain in 1974. He's now 88 and still flys sailplanes in Vermont. Quite a story!
Flights of Passage (NOT the same book as mentioned above..the authors name is Hynes, or something like that) is a great autobiography of flying as a Marine Corps TBF pilot in WW II. It's a great tale of kids going to war, with all the comedy and tragedy, as opposed to the "there I was..." heroic stuff.
Good Luck and good reading!
 
A classic book

Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langwiesche can't be beat for aerodynamics in plain English.
 
GREAT picture, Hyper!!!!
 
Hey!!

Passed through ATL yesterday and you were already gone!!

Just finished: Motion to Suppress by Perri O'Shaughnessy

Also re-read Fate is the Hunter -- the best!!

I prefer Mr. Tom Clancy, but alas, he doesn't have anything new out w/ Jack.

Take care and Fly Safe.
 
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

The book is so much better than the movie.
 

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