Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By G-BLEW
Boss Man  Boss Man
#1736232
The Flyer team got together over a virtual mince pie to pick our favourite aviation books. Blimey, there's loads, so this is just a start…

We've provided Amazon links should you want to drop a not-so-subtle hint to anyone struggling with your Christmas present selection.

https://www.flyer.co.uk/topgear-books/

Ian
TheFarmer liked this
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1736239
Tim Dawson wrote:How about Think Like a Bird?


Brilliant - he wrote a second book which was pleasant enough but not nearly as good as Think like a bird.

I approve of most of the rest of the list but could not get on with Propellor Head and Stick and Rudder was meh - sold it recently on Amazon.

Not yet read the John Farley book.
#1736247
I refer you to the list compiled by the Forum many years ago.......should probably update/add.
A gift of wings                         Richard Bach
A rabbit in the air                     David Garnett
Aerobatics                              Neil Williams
Air America                             Christopher Robbins
Air disasters                           Stanley Stewart
Airborne                                Neil Williams
Airymouse                               Harold Penrose
Always another dawn                     Scott Crossfield
An aeroplane affair                     John Isaacs
Biggles (all of them)                   Capt. W.E. Johns
Black Sunday                            Thomas Harris
Bomber                                  Len Deighton
Cannibal Queen                          Stephen Coonts
Carrying the fire                       Michael Collins
Chicken hawk                            Robert Mason
Cloud cuckoo land                       Harold Penrose
Contact!:the story of the early birds   Henry Serrano Villard
Courier Sud                             Antoine de St. Exupery
Dead weight                             Brian Lecomber
Emergency                                Stanley Stewart
Enemy coast ahead                       Guy Gibson
F4 Phantom : a pilot's story            Robert Prest
Faith is a windsock                     Miles Tripp
Fate is the hunter                      Ernest Gann
Fighter - The true story of the Battle of Britain Len Deighton
First Light                             Geoffrey Wellum
Flight  of passage                      Rinker Buck
Fly for your life                       Larry Forrester
Flying for fun                          Jack Parham
Flying to the limit                     Roly Beaumont
Gift of wings                           Richard Bach
Going solo                              Roald Dahl
Goodbye Mickey Mouse                    Len Deighton
Hitler versus me (Bandy)                Donald Jack
How sleep the brave (Flying Officer X)  H.E. Bates
I flew for the Fuehrer                  Heinz Knoke
I must fly                              Sheila Scott
Inside the sky                          William Langewiesche
It's me again (Bandy)                   Donald Jack
Kill devil hill                         Harry Combs
Le Grand Cirque                 Pierre Clostermann
Me Bandy, you Cissie (Bandy)             Donald Jack
Me so far (Bandy)                       Donald Jack
Me too (Bandy)                   Donald Jack
Mosquito intruder                       Dave McIntosh
No Escape Zone                  Nick Richardson
No highway                              Neville Shute
North To The Orient                     Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Notes from a small mind         Rob Sawyer
Of Wind and Water                       James Sanders
On top of the world                     Sheila Scott
Open cockpit over Africa                Victor Smith
Pablo's travels                         Pablo Mason
Power Puff Derby                        Mike Walker
Propellerhead                           Antony Woodward
Reach for the sky                       Douglas Bader
Round the bend                          Neville Shute
Saggitarius rising                      Cecil Lewis
Sea Harrier over the Falklands          Sharkey Ward
Serenade to the big bird                Bert Stiles
Sigh for a Merlin                       Alex Henshawe
Sky fever                               Sir Geoffrey de Havilland
Skying                                  Peter Somerville Large
Sled driver                             Brian Shul
Slide rule                              Neville Shute
Spitfire - a test pilot's story         Jeffrey Quill
Spreading My Wings                      Diana Barnato Walker
Stick and rudder                        Wolfgang Langewiesche
Stranger to the ground                  Richard Bach
Talkdown                                Brian LeComber
Terre des Hommes                        Antoine de St. Exupery
That's me in the middle (Bandy)         Donald Jack
The Air War - Yugoslavia and Greece     Christopher Shores
The flight of the mew gull              Alex Henshaw
The Forgotten Pilots                    Lettice Curtis
The Hurricane Story                     Paul Gallico
The last enemy                          Richard Hillary
The lonely sea and the sky              Sir Francis Chichester
The Navigation Log                      Martin Corrick
The right stuff                         Tom Wolfe
The Shepherd                            Frederick Forsyth
Think like a bird                       Alex Kimbell
Three cheers for me (Bandy)             Donald Jack
Thud ridge                              Jack Broughton
To fly and fight                        Bud Anderson
Tornado Down                            John Peters, John Nicol
Turn Killer                             Brian Lecomber
Under an english heaven         Robert Radcliffe
Vol de nuit                             Antoine de St. Exupery
West with the night                     Beryl Markham
Wings on my sleeve                      Michael Collins
Wings over Suez                 Brian Cull
You want to build and fly a WHAT        Richard Starks
 
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By akg1486
#1736253
I don't read a lot of aviation books, but I did enjoy this one:

http://www.chasingthemorningsun.com/home_page.htm

It's the story of a UK pilot circumnavigating the world in an RV-6.

You could also print out a few of Katamarinos threads on this forum: almost like books. :D
Dave W, JAFO, Waveflyer liked this
By XX
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1736263
My favourite 3 all on FF's list from the previous time around, and still Propellerhead, You Want To Build & Fly A What? and First Light.
By Chris Martyr
#1736290
Funny how most of us are drawn to all these types of book isn't it ?
But what do they all have in common ? Well nothing really , apart from the odd aeroplane or two .
As with forums , it's the cross-sections of different people involved that make the whole thing interesting.

XX wrote: You Want To Build & Fly A What? and First Light.


U.S. author , Dick Starks writes superbly . I used to love his contributions to Kitplanes magazine . He combines a vast knowledge with a wonderful sense of humour .
Geoff Wellum's brilliant book , First Light , also caused me to read well into the night . He came across as such a humble and modest person . Being of such tender years and losing so many friends must have been a dreadful burden for this incredible man .
Beryl Markham's book ; West with the Night , even without the flying makes a fascinating read . Her life was interesting anyway in pre-war colonial Kenya , long before she was taught to fly aeroplanes .
But for me , the funniest bit was that the bit that most of us lot would be interested in - her flight to the U.S. which was in a chapter right at the end .
But I believe that quite a few of the settlers out there in the colonial days were slightly bonkers ..and our Beryl was probably no exception .

Reading FF's long list of books made me wonder if any of us have the time to read that amount of books AND fly .
Well , looking out of the window ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,probably yes . :D
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