North Star Over My Shoulder

[Craig]

Just starting this one by Bob Buck. Flying all sorts of aircraft from the 1920’s, all the way up to being a 747 captain. Looks to be interesting.

 

[mscard88]

It's a good read. Read it years ago.

 

[airdale]

Anything by Buck is a good read. For those who don't know, Buck flew everything from DC-2s to 747s and logged over 2,000 Atlantic crossings. In WWII he flew a B-17 chasing hurricanes so he could fly through them to gather research data. "North Star" is fascinating autobiography.

His most popular is "Weather Flying," now being updated by his son, also Bob, and an important read for pilots.

I think most of the rest of his books are out of print but there are copies around. In addition to Weather Flying, I have:
North Star Over My Shoulder
The Art of Flying
The Pilot's Burden
Flying Know-How

Anyone knowing of any other books by him please let me know. I will hunt them down!

 

[Craig]

Finished it up a week or two ago. Not a bad read, just wish there were more details on some of the various projects he was involved in. Will look for some of his other books this fall.

 

[Pilawt]

I just finished Howard Hughes and TWA, which tells the story about what was going on behind the scenes at TWA during the time Bob Buck was one of their senior captains (though Buck is not mentioned in this book). It was written by Robert Rummel, who was head of aircraft procurement for TWA in that time, as well as an accomplished airplane designer in his own right. He had about as much contact with HRH as anybody at the airline did. Fascinating story; how Rummel put up with Hughes' antics as long as he did is the biggest mystery to me.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Just finished this one. I'm continually amazed at the level of courage pilot's of the era around WWII had regarding trans-Atlantic flights. Weather forecasting was still very much a guessing game, and nav-aids were all but useless for most of the trips.