Hi all,

 

I'm going away for a week at the end of February and could really do with some interesting aviation related books to read whilst I'm gone.

 

I'm pretty open to any suggestions. I've enjoyed reading several books regarding the 747 and airline pilots discussing their day-to-day jobs, I've also read Michael O'Leary's incredibly rise to power in Ryanair.

 

Are there any that I should check out?

 

I'm not really after manuals or anything, but more factual books, etc.

 

Thanks for your help!

Might I suggest:

 

Fate Is The Hunter - Ernest Gann

(A "tell it like it is" tale of the Author's experience flying in the days before VOR's, NDB's and GPS, PIC in DC-2's, C-47's, C-87's, etc.)

 

Captain Jepp and The Little Black Book - Flint Whitlock/Terry Barnhart

(The story of the man who created the Approach Plate, and whose name graces the Main Terminal at Denver Int'l. Airport)

 

:smile:

Calum,

 

You might try "Project Coldfeet" by William Leary and Leonard LeShack. It's about the CIA's use of a B-17 to uncover what the Soviets were doing in the Artic in 1962.

 

Another good book is "The CIA's Secret War in Tibet" by Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison. Part of the book recounts how the agency used C-130s to assist the Dalai Lama's escape from Chinese forces in Tibet.

 

Both are a short read.

 

Pete

Wasn't there one called "God is my copilot"? Or am I confusing it with Fate is the hunter, which is a classic best-seller way back when.

 

Henri

For less-riveting, more-factual books, you could consider Guy Norris and Mark Wagner books. I enjoyed the detailed information and good images in their A380 book. My main concerns were with the heavy emphasis on the development of the aircraft instead of its technologies, and the occasional sloppy typographical errors. I believe some criticize the authors for being positively biased towards the manufacturer of the aircraft focused on in each book.

I read one years ago called "North Star over My Shoulder". It's about the career of Robert Buck from WWII to his time at TWA.

Good read

 

Kevin

I am reading two books right now. The first is "Magnesium Overcast - The Story Of The Convair B-36" by Dennis Jenkins. I never knew about the development of tractor tread landing gear until I saw this book.

The second book is "At Dawn We Slept -The Untold Story Of Pearl Harbor" by Gordon W. Prange. It is a very thorough look at the planning of the attack. At 800 pages, it may be a little long for a week's read.

 

Bill

"A HIGHER CALL" by Adam Markos with Larry Alexander

 

An incredible true story of combat and chivalry in the war-torn skies of world war II. The story centers around the pilot history's of a badly shot up B-17 trying to make it back to England and a Bf-109 pilot that could easily put them in the drink.

 

Just Google it

Flying Through Midnight by John T Halliday...now a retired airline captain...his adventures from Thailand over the Ho Chi Minh Trail...it has been called "the best aviation book" from the era, and it is a truly good read...although he does not use real names, you can google just about everything you read and check it out yourself.

 

Rescue of Streetcar 304 - I have read it about 3 times, and I still shake my head. How he escaped is beyond me.

 

QF32 - book written by Capt Richard de Crespigny regarding the near disaster when an engine exploded in a daprting Qantas Airbus A380.

"Captain" by Thomas Block I found to be an entertaining read about a fictional airline flight which encounters trouble on board that leads to a rather long sequence of events (which I shall not disclose the details). The author is a former airline pilot and his writing shows that (in a good way).

For light reading on a mostly GA topic, I like any of Richard Bach's books on real world aviation: "Stranger to the Ground", "Biplane", "Nothing by Chance", and a few more I haven't read yet like "Hypnotizing Maria".

 

Hook

Although I have a library of 500+ aviation books, most of them put me to sleep pretty quickly. I usually just watch the pictures. However, there is one superb book that is both well written, exciting and fun above all others:

 

http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Ferry-Pilot/dp/1412010667/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360163555&sr=8-1&keywords=So+you+want+to+be+a+ferry+pilot

Nine years ago I read a book called From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's Remarkable Comeback

 

 

The book talks about CEO Gordon Bethune that took leadership of the airline and brought it from the back of the ranks to number one in the 90's. He made what was the laughingstock of the industry into the model that others would follow. Gordon Bethune is what made me want to start the company that shuts down NetJets.

 

From Amazon: http://www.amazon.co...=283155&s=books

If you want a classic of the Golden Age era of aviation: Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de St-Exupéry. National Geographic voted the novel No. 3 in its all-time list of 100 best adventure-exploration books.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind,_Sand_and_Stars

Although I have a library of 500+ aviation books, most of them put me to sleep pretty quickly. I usually just watch the pictures. However, there is one superb book that is both well written, exciting and fun above all others:

 

http://www.amazon.co...e a ferry pilot

 

I LOVED that book; it was well written and filled with 411 that would make any ferry flight more realistic and enjoyable in FS.

 

Another interesting read is The Long Way Home, by Ed Dover. It tells the story of the Pacific Clipper, which was en route from Honolulu

to Auckland when the events of Pearl Harbor took place. Ordered by Pan Am to return home to La Guardia Marine Air Terminal in New York,

the crew flew some 31,000 miles westbound through India, Saudi Arabia, Northern Africa and Brazil before arriving home six weeks later.

At the time, it was the longest flight ever made by a commercial airliner, and the airplane (a Boeing Model 314 flying boat) was considered to

be a 'national asset' by both Pan Am and the US Government. No charts, inadequate supplies (including the proper aviation fuel), flying

over terrain never traversed by such a large aircraft, and almost shot down by Dutch fighter planes... quite the story.

 

:smile: