Aviation books??

[tcco94]

Well probably could have predicted this one but just started to get really into reading after starting college. I spent a couple hours in Barnes and Noble just going through tons of books and ended up buying No Easy Day...the book about the killing of Osama Bin Laden (which I must say is an AMAZING book).

Now that I'm really close to finishing that I wanted to go look for some other books. I don't really have a specific genre of books, more non-fiction books than fiction books. I think I'm going to read Black Hawk Down because that one looks really good also. I was wondering of any aviation books out there that any of you guys might know of that are really good??

I'm looking more for modern day aviation novels rather than World War 2 and older aviation books because I've seen many of them but I'm sort of only really interesting in stuff that I can at least remember being alive for, not a huge history junkie. I'm really trying to find a book from commercial pilots because I think that'd be really interested, especially reading about the inside stories of that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm even really interested in books about aviation accidents and etc. but I guess I just want to see others opinions especially on my college budget I don't have a lot of money to go spending it testing out tons of books to see if I like them.

P.S.- One book that looked pretty good was Miracle on the Hudson... has anyone read that?

[wifesaysno]

Well probably could have predicted this one but just started to get really into reading after starting college. I spent a couple hours in Barnes and Noble just going through tons of books and ended up buying No Easy Day...the book about the killing of Osama Bin Laden (which I must say is an AMAZING book).

Now that I'm really close to finishing that I wanted to go look for some other books. I don't really have a specific genre of books, more non-fiction books than fiction books. I think I'm going to read Black Hawk Down because that one looks really good also. I was wondering of any aviation books out there that any of you guys might know of that are really good??

I'm looking more for modern day aviation novels rather than World War 2 and older aviation books because I've seen many of them but I'm sort of only really interesting in stuff that I can at least remember being alive for, not a huge history junkie. I'm really trying to find a book from commercial pilots because I think that'd be really interested, especially reading about the inside stories of that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm even really interested in books about aviation accidents and etc. but I guess I just want to see others opinions especially on my college budget I don't have a lot of money to go spending it testing out tons of books to see if I like them.

P.S.- One book that looked pretty good was Miracle on the Hudson... has anyone read that?

Miracle on the Hudson...one of the most over-rated events in aviation history. They did what any pilot would do...

But on another note, 'Black Hawk Down' is darn good. Just be warned it gets very hectic and very nasty. The movie does not get any where near how incredibly chaotic things got. I read it twice right away just to keep names straight. Be warned that every page ends up being someone getting wounded (sometimes again) or dying....there are also some rather humorous stories from the guys (I will leave you too read them just beware the '----jack' bragging rights stories  ). Personally I have read it about 6 times now. 'We Were Soldiers Once...and Young' is similar.

Flyboys by James Bradley is very eye-opening (just do not read it after a meal or before bed  ) FYI it has nothing in common with the movie Flyboys.

The memoirs of Col Robin Olds is darn good as is the bio of John Boyd aka"30 Second Boyd"

My dad keeps telling me to read this book called 'Fate is the Hunter'. I guess its the memoirs of a private/charter/commercial pilot from the good ol days of Dc-3s, Dc-4s, etc. Lots of incredible flying stories.

[tcco94]

Well probably could have predicted this one but just started to get really into reading after starting college. I spent a couple hours in Barnes and Noble just going through tons of books and ended up buying No Easy Day...the book about the killing of Osama Bin Laden (which I must say is an AMAZING book).

Now that I'm really close to finishing that I wanted to go look for some other books. I don't really have a specific genre of books, more non-fiction books than fiction books. I think I'm going to read Black Hawk Down because that one looks really good also. I was wondering of any aviation books out there that any of you guys might know of that are really good??

I'm looking more for modern day aviation novels rather than World War 2 and older aviation books because I've seen many of them but I'm sort of only really interesting in stuff that I can at least remember being alive for, not a huge history junkie. I'm really trying to find a book from commercial pilots because I think that'd be really interested, especially reading about the inside stories of that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm even really interested in books about aviation accidents and etc. but I guess I just want to see others opinions especially on my college budget I don't have a lot of money to go spending it testing out tons of books to see if I like them.

P.S.- One book that looked pretty good was Miracle on the Hudson... has anyone read that?

Miracle on the Hudson...one of the most over-rated events in aviation history. They did what any pilot would do...

Eh I'd highly disagree with that. I'd expect many different outcomes with different pilots in that seat. I'm a pilot and if I was in that seat I wouldn't have thought about landing in the Hudson just because of the likely hood of my airplane landing in one piece. Just my two cents.

But thanks for the suggestions. I do have the book Flyboys... never really gave it a chance in high school. When I go back for the holidays I'm gonna pick it back up.

Definitely think I'll give Black Hawk Down a shot. 

[wifesaysno]

Well their options were the Hudson or a bunch of buildings...Im guessing landing in the middle of a city would be more damaging than a water landing...
Normally when a plane picks a fight with a building it does not go well...
Speaking from an engineering and flying point of view 


Since you like the civil aviation though, look into 'Fate is the Hunter'. It has been suggested to me by several pilots (dad included).

Honestly Flyboys was very good. But there is only so much of that book one can take in a day.

I just remembered another Navy SEAL book: 'Lone Survivor'
From the Afghanistan conflict. In short the writer was the only one of his squad to survive a nasty ambush.

[ozzy72]

I've got a rather comprehensive list. This there a particular period or era that intests?
I've got a remarkable collection of Spitfire/Seafire books not to mention pilot autobiographies in my collection.

[ftldave]

Here's some great military aviation books that I've recently enjoyed. It's a great time for those of us interested in US Air Force and Navy aviation. Lots of true stories are being published that were kept secret during the Cold War, finally coming to light.

Trash Haulers: The Story of the C-130 Hercules Troop Carrier/Tactical Airlift Mission by Sam McGowan

Remembering an unsung giant : the Douglas C-133 Cargomaster and its people - by Cal Taylor (THE definitive volume about this strategic airlifter)

B*U*F*F (Big Ugly Fat F*****) by Lothar Maier (BUFF=B-52 bomber) (I'd give a PG-13 rating on this one for 'adult' situations - one of the few books I have read that made me laugh out loud)

100 missions north : a fighter pilot's story of the Vietnam War by Kenneth Bell (accounts of the F-105 "Thud" Thunderchief)

Glory days : the untold story of the men who flew the B-66 Destroyer into the face of fear - by Samuel Wolfgang (The B-66 was the USAF's primary electronic-warfare aircraft during the Vietnam war)

Lockheed SR-71 : the secret missions exposed - by Paul Crickmore (but no references to the infamous MIG-25/MIG-31 standoff over the Bering Sea)

Flying the SR-71 : in the cockpit on a secret operational mission - by Richard Graham (A very tech-rich narrative about the Habu, which is what the SR-71 was really called by those who flew it)

Red Eagles : America's secret MiGs by Steve Davies (about the US aggressor squadrons that flew real MiGs)

Where the Buf fellows roamed - by James Hooppaw (great B-52 stories - Hooppaw respectfully leaves off the last F in BUFF)

[beaky]

Anything by Ernest Gann might suit... he was one of the early airline pilots- became an airline pilot back when KEWR was a big cinder-paved circle, flying DC-2s; flew a variety of piston transports on the WWII supply routes from Newfoundland to India and China (including "over the Hump"; went back to airline flying and retired as a jet captain. He was also a very gifted writer.
I highly recommend some of his books...

Fate is the Hunter is a great collection of short stories, based on his career... he claims in the introduction that it's all fiction, but I doubt that. 

In the Company of Eagles is a proper novel, which he wrote about a WWI fighter squadron... more excellent reading.

Then there's The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky, both of which were adapted into pretty cool, commercially successful movies.

[Jayhawk Jake]

If you want good insight into the engineering side of things and some really cool flying stories, read Skunk Works by Ben Rich.  Excellent book about Lockheed's skunk works, focusing on the U-2, F-117, and SR-71

[flywyatt123]

"North Star Over My Shoulder" By: Bob Buck
Bob Buck may not be as famous as Charles Lindbergh, but he's well known among aviators for setting flight-distance records in the 1930's, flying a B-17 in the Second World War, and finally, becoming a commercial airline pilot who logged more than 2,000 trips across the Atlantic Ocean. North Star over My Shoulder is Buck's memoir of a life spent in the skies. He shares plenty of cockpit wisdom: "A copilot can make a trip or ruin it; get someone who talks too much, gripes about the company, tries to impress you, tells long and boring anecdotes, or is overly aggressive in suggesting ways to run the flight, and the taste is unpleasant." He also answers the question he says nonpilots are most likely to ask him: How do you overcome jet lag? "You don't," he says. Buck addresses offbeat subjects, too, such as what an airline pilot does when one of his first-class passengers is irate about the lack of caviar on a long trip. Readers fascinated by flight will enjoy this book, both for its historical perspective on advances in aviation ("a time no one will ever experience again") and the good advice that springs from almost every page ("sitting low tends to make you level off a little too high, while sitting up high tends to make you fly into the ground and not level off enough"). Pilots will appreciate this book, as will anybody who has ever wondered what it's like to fly a plane.

[tcco94]

Thanks for all the help guys! I've already bought Lone Survivor, Black Hawk Down, and another political book so after I'm done with those three I'll start jumping into some of these. I've wrote down the one's that look good!

Thanks a lot.