best aviation books
So I got such great response from the best aviation movies post I thought I would try my own personal poll on the best book on aviation. This was tough, plus you cannot really include biographies and narratives in with the technical stuff. And then most of the technical information military pilots read is not for public dissemination. I also have not read any fiction associated with flying, so I'm hoping some of you can enlighted me in that area to broaden my horizons. I've just been into the real stuff since college. Here's my top choices, and they are all over the place, so be gentle.
1. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram
2. Into the Mouth of the Cat by Malcolm McConnell
3. The Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
4. The Few by Alex Kershaw
5.Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering by Robert L. Shaw
Please share your own favorite written works, no matter the genre.
posted by chic[k]pilot @ 10:43 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Boyd is brilliant. First work that really got me wrapped into strategy. Plus the dude had cajones. I also just got done with Coram's new one on Bud Day. Not as philosophical, but still worth it.
You gotta give a shout out to Tom Wolfe for The Right Stuff.
CP-
Your list could only arise from spending too much time around ammunition and JP-4 fumes. Understandable, given your job description, but still.
Try these:
Gann: Fate is the Hunter
St-Exupery: Wind, Sand and Stars.
Arnold: Kohn's War
Drury: My Secret War
Bach: Stranger to the Ground
Concur on Bach. Absolutely the best descriptive writing aboout strapping on a jet for a night hop I've ever read...
Out of print for 70 years and completely unobtainable, but also Falcons of France by Nordhoff and Hall (the two Lafayette Escadrille pilots who also wrote _Mutiny on the Bounty_, _Men against the Sea_ and _Pitcairn's Island_, all worth reading and still in print).
Fate is the Hunter - Ernest Gann. Read it when I was a kid and just reread it last month. Great book on flying.
Anything by Walter Boyne...
Also: _CW2_, by Layne Heath. possibly the best aviation novel ever.
I'm reading 'Vulcan 607', about a sort of 'Scrapyard Challenge' from the Falklands campaign. Shows what fliers will do to show their gratitude for being paid to burn 1600lbs an hour 4000 miles from their base over the stormy South Atlantic. Great book
The Bridges at Toko-Ri and The Hunters. Also concur with Fate is the Hunter and The Right Stuff.
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. Extraordinary aviation read about flying helos in Viet Nam.
concur on The Right Stuff by Wolfe. Also, his short story "Jousting With Sam and Charlie" which is reproduced in his anthology The Purple Decades.
Flight of the Intruder, great book made into a crappy movie.
Glad to see you still have Coram's book on John Boyd on your list. It's still on my coffee table. I worked with John when he started his research at Eglin AFB many years ago. I agree with SV that Boyd was brilliant, but he was also a bit weird. One morning I got to the office a little early and found that John had forgotten to go home the day before.
Some more recommendations over here and in the comments...
- SJS
Rhythms, Neptunus Lex
Thud Ridge was an eye opener for me when I read it college.
Any Richard Bach book about flying is more than worth your time.
and I am glad someone other than me appreciates the awesomeness of the book CW2!
Post a Comment
<< Home