Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
User avatar
By G-BLEW
Boss Man  Boss Man
#1322718
A few years ago I was in Philadelphia (I think) for an AOPA Expo event. The night before it opened there was an event hosted by a local legal firm. I can't remember huge amounts about the event (not because of drink, but because I think it was fairly dull), but there was a business card raffle thing and surprisingly I won. The prize was a copy of Flight of Passage signed and presented by Mr Buck himself, so the copy on my shelf is dedicated to my daughters.

Ian
User avatar
By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1322720
I posted this in May this year and as I'm just off to bed(early start termorrer)I've jut cut and pasted it


by Pete S » Mon May 26, 2014 20:39

I have just read and can thoroughly recommend 'A Higher Call' by Adam Makos pub. Atlantic Books

ISBN 9781782392569.

It's the story of the Me 109 pilot who 'escorted' a badly shot up B17 to the coast after a bombing raid and refrained from blasting it from the sky, and the pilot/crew of that B17 that as a result, largely survived.

I guarantee it will alter your entire outlook of German Luftwaffe pilots under the crackpot Nazi administration.

I understand the film rights have been sold: It will make a cracking movie.

Peter
Primum non nocere..
User avatar
By rats404
#1322745
You called, Dave? :)

Seriously, I also recommend "A higher call" - brilliant. I got it from Audible.co.uk and listened to it in the car.
User avatar
By davef77
#1322799
I love some if the books already mentioned, "Fate is the hunter" is simply wonderful. Probably my favourite.

One book that hasn't been mentioned is Chickenhawk, the story of a Vietnam Huey pilot in the "first cav". I have rarely read a better description of the stress and insanity of war, it kind of ramps up throughout the book.

"Spitfire, a test pilots story" is, while very different, also very good. The anecdote of the test pilot who landed a spitfire (I think) after the prop failed and shook the entire engine off the aeroplane has always stuck with me - talk about being outside the aft C of G :shock:

For capturing the joy and romance of flight I think that "Biplane" by Richard Bach is pretty good, the true story of him trying to recapture the golden days of the 1920's barnstormers with a classic biplane in the 1960s.
User avatar
By aerial
#1322950
One that took me by surprise was 'Over to you' by Roald Dahl.

It is a book of short stories about his WW2 flying experiences. His storytelling is of course magnificent but read 'Katina' to be really moved.
By 421C
#1322999
Rob L wrote:
MichaelP wrote: What have you read that has made an impression on you from the history of aviation?

Many of Nevil Shute's books (albeit all "fiction" with the exception of his autobiography). Most based on fact or what could be considered to be fact, 50+ or 60+ years on.

Rob,
I've read "No Highway" but not sure which of his other books are the good aviation novels - what do you recommend? I know he wrote some well-regarded general fiction, but I really like aviation....

For me "The Spirit of St Louis" by Lindbergh is the greatest aviation story. There's an excellent book which also covers some of the competing attempts (many of which ended in tragedy) called "The Big Jump" by Richard Bak. 2011, available on Kindle.

Slight drift, but I noticed today on the BBC website an online course on how innovation in WW1 shaped the history of flight: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/ww1-aviation/
User avatar
By Corsican
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1323027
Apart from the excellent First Light, two stand out fictional books for me on the Battle of Britain "In case of war, break glass" by Bob Davy, a page turner and "To so few" by Russell Sullivan.

Any Bach book (reread "Biplane" recently), "Zero Three Bravo" by Mariana Gosnell about a her meander across America in a Luscombe Silvaire and reading these posts, I will finally order Flight of Passage.

Many others, but I seem to reread the above.
User avatar
By Rob L
#1323028
421C, I'd have to recommend "Round the Bend", ISBN 0 330 02018 8 (first published 1951).

And "An Old Captivity", ISBN 9780099530121 (first pub. 1940); personally my favourite.

And "The Rainbow and the Rose", ISBN 0 330 23550 8 (first pub. 1958)

Most, if not all, of his books have been re-published by http://www.vintage-books.co.uk or Amazon is your friend.
Last edited by Rob L on Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By 421C
#1323034
Thanks, I've gone Kindle and they are all available there, but wasn't sure which one to try next. Just downloaded "Round the Bend".
User avatar
By Horbach
#1323108
Learner_Driver wrote:'Fighter Pilot' - the memoirs of Robin Olds.
One of my favourite ever books :thumleft:


I strongly agree :thumleft:

My recommondations:
Forver Flying - Bob Hoover
Yeager - An Autobiography
Spitfire on My Tail - A View from the Other Side (Ulrich Steinhilper)

Not Pilot stories, but aircraft designers:
Kelly - More Than My Share of It All (Written by Kelly Johnson, designer of countless Lockheed aircraft: P-38, P-80, F-104, SR-71)
Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed (Ben R. Rich, successor of Kelly)
User avatar
By Rob L
#1323131
421C:

My error; the last should be "The Rainbow and the Rose", not "Requiem for a Rose". I've edited my post above.
User avatar
By The Other Ian
#1323144
Dave W wrote:
Josh wrote:I have just read David Morgan's Dangerous Skies about his time flying in the Falklands War. Both very good and very moving - some passages has me close to tears.


I very much agree. I think that book hasn't yet found the reputation it deserves - it's an uncommonly introspective and emotionally brave read, and I think it has the potential to be seen as a classic in due course. Top chap, too. :)


I was fortunate enough to serve with David Morgan pre-Falklands and can confirm he is, indeed, a top chap. He was instrumental in my following a military flying career.

His own personal story before the Falklands is an extraordinary example of determination and overcoming adversity, and is worthy of a book in its own right. I would love to see a prequel to Hostile Skies.
User avatar
By OCB
#1323257
Another vote for First Light. It's the book that got me back into reading aviation books.
I don't know if Wellum is still with us, but I do know some forumites know/knew the gent.
To War in a Stringbag by Charles Lamb hasn't been mentioned. It's a tremendous read. Better than First Light in many ways.
Chickenhawk already mentioned as well. +1 vote for that.
My uncle (a Scot emigrant) was a door gunner in Vietman, decorated for saving the remains of a flight that all got shot down. He was the only one to remain uninjured from the crash, and ran around shooting until help arrived. He didn't survive the war (non combat incident of all things), so this book is the closest I've found to what it must have been like for him.