Aviation Book Recommendations

[cptn2016]

So like any good student pilot I've read Stick and Rudder...couldn't put it down, so many things just 'clicked' for me (angle of attack! angle of attack! angle of attack!).
Next up is The Killing Zone: How and Why Pilots Die, which an instructor recommended.

To get to the point, please recommend any aviation books. I'd especially be interested in weather/meteorology ones.

And we may as well include periodicals - I subscribe to Plane & Pilot and Flying, and I buy AOPA Flight Training and Airways every month...anything out there that I'm missing out on?

Thanks!

[Hedley]

Pretty well anything by Ernie Gann, Richard Bach, or Charles Lindbergh.

I read an awful lot of WWI and WWII books, because what we do fundamentally hasn't changed much since then. It's amazing what you can learn from people, many of whom are now long dead.

[alctel]

Stick and Rudder is so great, I am in the middle of rereading it.

Air Command Weather Manual is what I got recommended to me, haven't had a chance to pick it up yet though.

http://www.aviationworld.net/default/ai ... ition.html

You have From the Ground Up of course?

Will check out The Killing Zone, thanks

[trey kule]

What kind of a pilot do you want to be? Some theoretical know it all nerd, or a real man about the cockpit? If the latter, than the aviaition books are Maxim,Stuff, and the Robb report., as well as any bike magazine. As to weather. Forget the books!!! Hang around with real manly, gianormous watch wearing, sunglass clad pilots and you will soon learn to look at a lady and determine weather. Spend you book money on epaluts...four bar ones. And gel for your hair.

Now if you want to go all nerdy and know things like why a plane actually flys and be able to post all sorts of charts and stuff on Avcanada that have nothing to do with beer or women, there are lots. I always went for the douglas bader era books. Found them much more entertaining, but not technical at all (see preceding paragraph...these were real pilots). Richard Bach . .same thing, a couple of great books, except for Johnaton Livingston Seagull which I thought was an aviation book until my daughter was reading it in University for some warm and fuzzy psycho class. Apparently it is not really about flying!!!

I always found inspiration in the stories of the WW2 era pilots and a bit later at the start of the jet age. And inspiration leads to actually digging into textbooks for knowledge.

[Hedley]

Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators. Great book.

[cptn2016]

Stick and Rudder is so great, I am in the middle of rereading it.

Air Command Weather Manual is what I got recommended to me, haven't had a chance to pick it up yet though.

http://www.aviationworld.net/default/ai ... ition.html

You have From the Ground Up of course?

Will check out The Killing Zone, thanks

I do have FGU, yes.

I'm halfway through S&R for the second time as well. I really think it should be required reading for any student starting out. It de-mystifies a lot about your early training.

I will check out ACWM...it looks like more of a prep book for the exams, but that's not a bad thing.

As for The Killing Zone it's specifically about 40-350 hr pilots and why accident rates actually rise for a while after your PPL training is complete, before going down after the 350TT mark.

I've also just found out about a book called "They Called it Pilot Error: True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents" by Robert L. Cohn...I'm adding it to my list.

[trey kule]

Sigh.... well if you are going to insist on your pro-knowlege, anti-beer course, I should at least help

here is a serious recommendation.

WEATHER WAYS. It is old, out of date, and has been replaced by several newer books.....BUT...and this is important...The weather portion of the IFR exam is right out of the old weather ways book. I expect maybe the commercial might also be but I dont know for sure. Track one down. Only thing you need after that is the AIM to get all those confusing little acronomyms like BR for fog clear. When I said out of date, I meant to those who like to write new books. The weather has not changed much and it has gotten me through decades of flying with undrstanding.

The book Hedley recommended is really quite good for the how do these things fly part

[Hedley]

I've never actually found a single, comprehensive weather textbook. As tk says, you need to collect stuff from all over. But there is no doubt that as a pilot, you had better get pretty good at forecasting the weather, or you aren't going to live very long. Or fly very much.

I can't think of a good, complete textbook for airframe and systems, and piston and turbine engines off hand. I personally adore AC 43-13 but that's a little over the top for a pilot.

Similarly I can't think of a good, comprehensive textbook for avionics, which is another area that pilots need to learn about. Anyone?

PS this really isn't a book, but instead rather a lifetime of accumulated thoughts of a flight instructor, whom I got to know in the old USENET days of rec.aviation, back in the early 1990's. Anyone here remember Geoff Peck? Probably not - he's dead now.

http://www.whittsflying.com/web/index.htm

Enjoy!

[cptn2016]

Sigh.... well if you are going to insist on your pro-knowlege, anti-beer course, I should at least help

here is a serious recommendation.

Yes, I must insist...I'm pretty decent at drinking beer already, it's the flying I want to get good at Know-it-all nerd all the way for me.

I will check out Weather Ways as well as Douglas Bader - any specifics I should read first?

Hedley, that Whitts Flying website looks gold, I skimmed through it yesterday and bookmarked it. Thanks!

[nimbostratus]

Van Sickles "Advanced Airmanship". Covers so much.

Of course for pleasure reading the ever popular books are "Fate is the Hunter", "Bush Pilot with a Briefcase", I'd also highly recommend "Forever Flying"- a biography of Bob Hoover.

That should keep you busy.

Nimbo

[Clodhopper]

I've read nearly all of Ernest Gann's books. They are all phenominal. Fate is the Hunter is his "diary" of his earlier flying career: an amazing read.

One of the better WW2 books: Wing Leader by Johnnie Johnson - Worked his way up to, well, wing leader with Spitfires in the RAF. He even commanded a gaggle of Canadian pilots too.

[alpha1]

Spitfire Pilot by Flight Lieutenant David Crook, DFC

"A brilliant first-hand account of the life of a fighter pilot before and during the Battle of Britain"

http://www.amazon.com/Spitfire-Pilot-Da ... 72&sr=8-12



Also, anything by the great instructor William K. Kershner...
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_ ... .+kershner


Finally, "Boyd - The Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War" - by Robert Coram "A stunning biography of the greatest fighter pilot in American history...."

http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilo ... 655&sr=8-1

[172PIC]

"The Next Hour" by Richard Collins is a good one for safety, you can get it from Sporty's

"Aviation Weather" by the FAA is old but a great book for weather, it's published by ASA, you can prob find it at Aviation World, or Aircraft Spruce

"Fly the Engine" by Kas Thomas is a great book for better understanding what goes on under the cowling.

[cptn2016]

This is excellent, I will have no trouble building up my library Keep 'em coming!

[EPR]

Vectors by Len Morgan and Flightlines by Rick Drury are well written presentations of both authors’ column work at Flying and Airways magazines, respectively.

Captain Drury’s dedication says it all in one paragraph: “To the last genuine airline pilots, those who battle typhoons and hurricanes, thunderstorms and winds gone mad, ice and snow, staggering fatigue and brainless bureaucracy. They do not wear the trendy suits and sit at desks. THEY FLY THE LINE.”

[x-wind]

Couple books on my shelve that I keep using

A & P Technician Power plant Textbook: Good as a fundamental trainer and then an excellent reference book.

Flight Theory for Pilots: Great theoretical textbook style book. Charles Dole wrote it and in his intro he recommends Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators.

Avionic Systems Operation & Maintenance: Good as a fundamental trainer and then an excellent reference book.

Local Area Weather Manuals: On NavCanada's home page left column. Excellent relevant literature to review.

They add a couple pages to my From The Ground Up every time I review it.

One of the best books I read was one of Transport Canadian's Human Factors books, I think it was for instructors. It was some time ago, I highly recommend buying one of those books from TC.

Lastly, the Instrument Procedures Manual. I think its also a TC document but Im not sure if one can get a new copy anymore. Might be better more relevant stuff now though.


Your name tells me your on the five year plan. A sincere good luck to you

[StudentPilot]

If you enjoyed Fate is the Hunter I would highly recommend North Star Over my Shoulder by Bob Buck, or just read this book. It covers a similar period as Fate is the Hunter, although he started slightly later (but still pre-war DC-2s and DC-3s) and ended his career on 747s with a whole lot of interesting things happening in between. I had trouble putting Fate is the Hunter down, but I found Bob Buck's style even more to my liking. Full Throttle by John Deakin is also an interesting read.

[cptn2016]

Your name tells me your on the five year plan. A sincere good luck to you

Indeed I am, but captain is a loose term Just aiming to get paid to fly within 5 years. Thanks! For the recommendations, as well.

Anyway, so many great suggestions here, perhaps it would help others out to list them concisely, so here they are. I apologize if I've missed any:

AVIATION BOOKS
Stick and Rudder - Wolfgang Langeweische
The Killing Zone: How and Why Pilots Die
Air Command Weather Manual
Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators
They Call It Pilot Error: True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents – Robert Cohn
Weather Ways
AC 43-13
Advanced Airmanship - Van Sickles
Fate Is The Hunter
Bush Pilot With A Briefcase
Forever Flying
Wing Leader - Johnnie Johnson
Spitfire Pilot - David Crook, DFC
Boyd – The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art Of War - Robert Coram
The Next Hour - Richard Collins
Aviation Weather - FAA
Fly The Engine - Kas Thomas
Vectors - Len Morgan
Flightlines - Rick Drury
A&P Technician Power Plant Textbook
Flight Theory For Pilots - Charles Dole
Avionics Systems Operation & Maintenance
Human Factors for instructors (Transport Canada, not the actual title)
Instrument Procedures Manual
North Star Over My Shoulder - Bob Buck
Full Throttle - John Deakin
Redefining Airmanship - Tony Kern
Flight Discipline - Tony Kern
Weather Flying - Robert Buck
Instrument Flying - Richard Taylor
Emergency Maneuver Training - Rich Stowell
Stall/Spin Awareness - Rich Stowell
Bring Back My String Bag

Authors (I’ve omitted authors of specific books listed above)
Ernie Gann
Richard Bach
Charles Lindbergh
Douglas Bader
William K. Kershner

[x15]

Redefining Airmanship - Tony Kern

Aviators come in all sizes, shapes, religions, sexes, races, creeds and degrees of airmanship proficiency. We fly different types of aircraft in different locations, from a grass strip in Mississippi to an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean. We fly for different reasons. Some fly for money, some for prestige, and some just for fun. But regardless of what background we bring to aviation, what aircraft type we fly, or what our motivations are for doing it, we all have a moral responsibility to each other to practise sound fundamental airmanship. This obligation also extends to the public at large, over whom we fly and who often become innocent victims of our ineptitude. How we address this obligation is the subject of this book. The airmanship model is offered as a means for individual aviators to take a stand against poor airmanship at the only point at which we have total control – ourselves

[jump154]

When this is done can a Mod sticky it and move to the training forum? I've a feeling i'm going ot keep coming back here!

[intruder-flight]

Hello,

I agree with Tony Kern's "Redefining Airmanship" and "Flight Discipline."

Ernest Gann, "Fate is the Hunter"

Robert Buck, "Weather Flying"

Richard Taylor, "Instrument Flying"

and many others already mentioned above!

[trampbike]

Emergency Maneuver Training and Stall/Spin Awareness by Rich Stowell http://www.richstowell.com/store/combo-packs/

I know Forever Flying has been mentionned, but I have to insist!

Also, every TSB and NTSB reports that can be found for free on the internet are worth a read.

[lownslow]

You'll want to re-read the first couple paragraphs of the Nav chapter in your FTGU. It may as well be the intro to their highly anticipated sequel, From the Ground Down.

Seriously though, you can't go wrong with Gann and Bach. I also read one once called Bring Back My Stringbag. Forget who wrote it but it was the autobiographical story of a fellow who wanted to join the RAF but was told they were full so instead enlisted with the RN and flew Swordfish. Long story short, he dreamed of flying Spitfires, ended up in 'obsolete' biplanes and was unable to bring himself to even sit in a cockpit by war's end.

LnS.

[Prairie Chicken]

Keep Weather Ways on your night table. It has good wx info, but it's the best cure for insomnia I ever found!

[Northern Flyer]

Chicken Hawk