Aircraft Book Recommendations

[mark_mcd]

Inspired by the 'Post amazingly cool pictures of aircraft' thread...

Can anyone recommend a good book they have read on some form of aircraft?

Cheers

[Jimbo.]

Vulcan 607

[ewenm]

The Vulcan one... now if only I could remember it's name... someone else will mention it for sure. Edit: In fact, they already have

Edited by ewenm on Tuesday 2nd December 23:39

[Bushmaster]

The Observer's Book of Aircraft


(do they still publish it?)

[ewenm]

Bushmaster said:

The Observer's Book of Aircraft


(do they still publish it?)

Been taken over by I-Spy hasn't it? Greek version not recommended...

[edfrp]

Bob Hoover's autobiography - Forever Flying.

Not about one specific aircraft, but about test flying many.

[Bushmaster]

Biggles Flies Again was pretty good! Still have my copy somewhere.

[FourWheelDrift]

Jimbo. said:

Vulcan 607

Which can be bought along with a book on the sinking, search and discovery of HMS Ark Royal and the sinking of the General Belgrano, all three for only £5 in Tescos.

[eharding]

A quick run down the titles on my favourite bookshelf.

Some of these are long out of print, but keep an eye out on eBay

Airborne - Neil Williams
F4 Phantom - Robert Prest
The Aerobatic Four Minute Freestyle - Xavier de L'Apparent
Test Pilot At War - H.A.Taylor
Test Pilot - Neville Duke
The Quick and the Dead - W.A.Waterton
The Sound Barrier - Neville Duke and Edward Lanchberry
The Dam Busters - Paul Brickhill
The Dangerous Skies - A.E.Clouston
The Killing Zone - How and Why Pilots Die - Paul.A.Craig
Spitfire: A Test Pilot's Story - Jeffrey Quill
Wings on My Sleeve - Eric Brown
Enemy Coast Ahead - Guy Gibson
Absolute Altitude - Martin Buckley
Propellerhead - Antony Woodward
The Habanero Cookbook - D.DeWitt and N.Gerlach (misfiled, but a good read)
Better Aerobatics - Alan Cassidy
Three Points - David Robson
Aerobatics: Principles and Practice - David Robson (flawed)
Fighter Combat - Robert L.Shaw (dull)
Flight Instructors Manual - R.D.Campbell (CFI made me buy it when I was pondering an Instructor rating)
Human Factors For Pilots - Green,Muir,James,Gradwell & Green (ditto)

Soon to be published:

From the Hover - John Farley

Published, and I promised Bob I'd recommend it:

In Case of War, Break Glass - Bob Davy.

Edited by eharding on Wednesday 3rd December 00:41

[Bushmaster]

Michael Crichton's 'Airframe' is a good novel about an accident investigation.

[Eric Mc]

There are lots of good books with aviation (and spaceflight - which is closely related) themes.

The list shown above contains some gems. I would recommend also -

Stranger to the Ground - Richard Bach
Back to the Drawing Board - Bill Gunston
Plane Speaking - Bill Gunston
The Bristol Blenheim - Graham Warner
The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe
Carrying the Fire - Michael Collins
The First and the Last - Adolf Galland
The Big Show - Pierre Clostermann
First Light - Geoffrey Wellum
Project Cancelled - Derek Wood

By the way, unfortunatley, the Observer series of books ceased publication in the early 1990s - a sure sign of the times that young lads were no longer taking an interest in things technical, scientific or historic (don't forget the series covered a vast range of subjects beyond aeroplanes).

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 3rd December 07:51

[rhinochopig]

Chickenhawk - brilliant book about a slick pilot in 'Nam
Phantom over Vietnam - same theme different aircraft.
Vulcan 607
Sled Driver is supposed to be very good - still waiting for my Library to get it in though Grrr.

I have to laugh at Eharding's HF for Pilots - why would he want to read a textbook about a very dry subject?

ETA forgot to add these



and the rest of the range.

[Overhaulin]

Sled Driver is highly recommended, some editions are very pricey though.

[Zulu 10]

My list is a bit short, but IMHO these are all excellent:

Yeager - An autobiography (saw this guy at Mountain Home in the mid nineties: when he was still flying his personal F-15)

Skunk Works - Ben Rich (the background to RS-71, F-117, etc)

The Ace Factor - Mike Spick (what makes a good figher pilot)

Reach for the Sky - Douglas Bader (even though it's now believed he was victim to fratricide)

Instruments of Darkness - Alfred Price (the story of airborne electronic warfare during WWII - not at all as dull as one might think)

HTH

Edited by Zulu 10 on Wednesday 3rd December 08:08

[Dunk76]

Zulu 10 said:

Reach for the Sky - Douglas Bader (even though it's now believed he was victim to fractricide)

Eh? He was shot down by his Brother?

[Eric Mc]

Zulu 10 said:

My list is a bit short, but IMHO these are all excellent:

Yeager - An autobiography (saw this guy at Mountain Home in the mid nineties: when he was still flying his personal F-15)

Skunk Works - Ben Rich (the background to RS-71, F-117, etc)

The Ace Factor - Mike Spick (what makes a good figher pilot)

Reach for the Sky - Douglas Bader (even though it's now believed he was victim to fractricide)

Instruments of Darkness - Alfred Price (the story of airborne electronic warfare during WWII - not at all as dull as one might think)

HTH

Although Paul Brickhill's books, "The Danmbuster" and "Reach for the Sky", are looked on as classics, they are now over 50 years old and much information about both subjects which was not available to him at the time has now come to light. I would recommend some of the more recent books on both topics for more accurste accounts of both the dams raids and Bader's life - particularly his wartime record.

[TimJMS]

The most fascinating books about aircraft I've read are the George Macarthur 'Mac' Job series of 'Air Disaster' volumes 1 - 4.

His expertise on the subject was heavily drawn upon during the filming of the occasional 'Black Box' television documentaries .

[Eric Mc]

TimJMS said:

The most fascinating books about aircraft I've read are the George Macarthur 'Mac' Job series of 'Air Disaster' volumes 1 - 4.

His expertise on the subject was heavily drawn upon during the filming of the occasional 'Black Box' television documentaries .

They are very good - with an interesting approach using lots of pen and ink illustrations in addition to photographs. They are almost like a tecchie version of a "graphic novel" (comic to you and me).

[MrVelox]

AIM/FAR 2008

[anonymous-user]

the last enemy - richard hillary