Winter Reading

[tinerj]

A Hostage to Fortune, the autobiography of Ernest K. Gann; 504 pages
One of my top ten favorite biographies. More to follow, check back.

 

[tinerj]

Rickenbacker the autobiography of Eddie Rickenbacker, 458 pages. Lots of photos. An interesting individual, interestingly told.

 

[wilkersk]

"Beyond the call" Lee Trimble. This is a gut wrenching story about the end of WWII in Poland and Russia. If even half this story is true, which I believe it is, it should be required reading at some point in every American's education.

 

[Norman]

Not aviation but "Winds Of War" will keep you occupied for hours. It was a good mini-series too.

 

[tinerj]

Autobiography of Bob Hoover.

 

[mscard88]

"Beyond the call" Lee Trimble. This is a gut wrenching story about the end of WWII in Poland and Russia. If even half this story is true, which I believe it is, it should be required reading at some point in every American's education.

Every book I've read about WWII, Europe & Pacific, has been gut wrenching.

Unbroken by Laura (forget last name, Hildebrand?) excellent read, now a movie.

Currently reading 1944: FDR and The Year That Changed History. Good so far.

 

[MickYoumans]

I'm reading 'A Higher Call'. It is the true story of Franz Steigler, the German pilot in WWII that escorted a badly damaged B17, piloted by Charlie Brown, out of German airspace. It is pretty awesome so far.

 

[mscard88]

I'm reading 'A Higher Call'. It is the true story of Franz Steigler, the German pilot in WWII that escorted a badly damaged B17, piloted by Charlie Brown, out of German airspace. It is pretty awesome so far.

Seems I've heard or read about that somewhere. Sounds interesting, added to my list. Thanks!

 

[luvflyin]

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[tinerj]

Autobiography of Neal V Loving, homebuilt aircraft designer, and builder of the WR-3 entry in the EAA contest for a folding wing simple to build aircraft using mostly hand tools and readily available materials. Its on display at EAA museum. Lots of interesting flying stories. 288 pages.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

"Beyond the call" Lee Trimble. This is a gut wrenching story about the end of WWII in Poland and Russia. If even half this story is true, which I believe it is, it should be required reading at some point in every American's education.

Read the book "a question of honor" which describes how polish refugee pilots helped save the British ( and the free world) during the battle of Britian and for the duration, and how poorly they were treated after the war. It's all true, well documented.

 

[tinerj]

Amy Johnson's biography: Only three years after Lindburgh's flight to Paris, Amy Johnson made a solo flight from England to Australia -- 12,000 miles in 19 1/2 days. This biography is 365 pages with photos, well researched, with plenty of exciting events both before and after that ground breaking flight, told in an interesting way.

 

[asechrest]

The Three Pillars of Zen by Kapleau. Non-aviation. It's about Zen Buddhism and "zazen" or Zen mediation. I'm not a Buddhist but I like to read interesting things.

 

[Pilawt]

I'm reading 'A Higher Call'. It is the true story of Franz Steigler, the German pilot in WWII that escorted a badly damaged B17, piloted by Charlie Brown, out of German airspace. It is pretty awesome so far.

On a similar vein, The German Aces Speak (2 volumes, available on iBooks). Each volume contains first-person narratives of four well-known Luftwaffe fighter pilots, now all deceased. Interesting insights into their battle tactics, disdain for their national leadership (perhaps a bit self-serving), and overt hatred for Hermann Göring.

 

[tinerj]

Roscoe Turner (The subtitle is Aviation's Master Showman, good description of Turner) The photo section begins with him as a poor field hand and has one of him on the cover of Time. Born in Corinth Mississippi, he worked in Hollywood, and promoted both himself and aviation. Interesting story. 340 pages.

 

[tinerj]

Autobiography of Chuck Yeager -- the man whose voice all the cool pilots tried to imitate. The chapter "Operation Golden Trout" is worth the price of the book (and the price in used condition can be very low. Check out www.abe.com) 342 pages with photographs.

 

[tinerj]

Winging It, the biography of Jack Jefford, Pioneer Alaskan Aviator. 319 pages. Several sections of photos. I like the idea of photographs of the actual events -- it changes tall tales and hangar flying into actual events.

 

[Bob Bement]

The book "DUTY" about the pilot of the Enola Gay, Paul Tibbits.

 

[MickYoumans]

I have finished "Higher Call" which I posted above. It was awesome. Next I am starting "Devotion" which is written by the same author as "Higher Call". A friend of mine had the "Devotion" book so he loaned me "Devotion" in return for borrowing my "Higher Call". "Devotion" is about Navy aviators Lt. Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown and fighter squadron 32. I can't wait to get started on it today.

 

[Shopshirt]

"West With The Night" was a pretty interesting Autobiography about Beryl Markham, an early female aviation pioneer, who became a bush pilot in East Africa in the 30's.

 

[airdale]

Anything by Bob Buck. Most people don't realize that he wrote anything but Weather Flying. Buck started flying mail in the 30s and ended up with over 2,000 Atlantic crossings in his logbook.

Autobiography: North Star Over My Shoulder
Flying Knowledge
The Pilot's Burden
The Art of Flying

These are the ones I've found anyway. Anyone know of any others?

 

[tinerj]

"West With The Night" was a pretty interesting Autobiography about Beryl Markham, an early female aviation pioneer, who became a bush pilot in East Africa in the 30's.

Yes, I've read that one. Here is a biography that covers more of her life: Straight On Till Morning. 408 pages with two sections of black and white photos. By Mary S. Lovell.

 

[colojo]

I'm about a third of the way through this book. It's outstanding.

 

[tinerj]

Come North with Me, the autobiography of Bernt Balchen, the pilot closely associated with Richard E. Byrd's flight to the South Pole, and Balchen's own flights into Canadian wilderness and war time work. Great reading, and lots of photos. 318 pages.

 

[Shepherd]

"Lightning Strike: The Secret Mission to Kill Admiral Yamamoto and Avenge Pearl Harbor"

 

[tinerj]

All right, her landings were some times atrocious, her navigating not the best (although her fuel management was better than most -- despite that last flight), She was enthusiastic, thought big, and showed courage; making her the best known female pilot to the general public.

The Sound of Wings, the Life of Amelia Earhart by Mary S. Lovell. 420 pages, lots of photos, and the end-paper has a diagram of her route.

 

[mscard88]

Reading 'Relentless strike' by Sean Naylor now. It's the comprehensive history of the Joint Special Operations Command. Some insightful information in there, such as how Maliki (Iraq Pres) protected captured Iranian operatives in Iraq.

 

[tinerj]

Yes, I've read that one. Here is a biography that covers more of her life: Straight On Till Morning. 408 pages with two sections of black and white photos. By Mary S. Lovell.

And I realize now that "straight On Till Morning" is a quote from Peter Pan about the boys who never grow up -- sort of an allegory of what's in a lot of pilots.

 

[tinerj]

Skyward by Richard E. Byrd. 359 pages, nice endpaper design, and tipped in photos (photos that were added between the pages where the photos belonged.) Scientist as well as an adventurer, with a multifaceted life.

 

[tinerj]

Your Wings by Assen Jordanoff First published 1936, 294 pages. All right, this is an old book, but the illustrations are a joy to view, and the writing is crisp and to the point. A beginning pilot can pick up some great advice. A pilot who flies a vintage aircraft with vintage instruments will find helpful words of wisdom. Every chapter explains some fundamentals of flight that apply to flying today. For those sections that have been superseded, it's an interesting walk thorough the history of flight (learn about "cone of silence.")


Great quotes fill the blank spaces between chapters: "There is not a word in all the dictionaries of all the languages that can serve as an alibi if your plane runs out of fuel while in flight."