Simviation Forums

I've read quite a few aviation related books over the last couple of years, but I'm looking for recommendations.

Most recently I've read Vulcan 607 by Rowland White and
Sea Harrier over the Falklands, by Sharkey Ward

I've also thoroughly enjoyed the wartime accounts of Bill Ash, W.G.G Duncan Smith, Geoffrey Wellum, Pierre Clostermann, Paul Richey, Johnnie Johnson.

Can anyone recommend any others similar to these?

Here's a couple off the top of my head.

'Sigh for a Merlin' by Alex Henshaw.

The War Diaries of Neville Duke. (Highly recommended but not read it myself yet.) Also 'Test Pilot' by the same author (my hero).

'Faster than the Sun' by Peter Twiss.

I keep meaning to get hold of General 'Jimmy' Doolittle's autobiography. I believe it's been completely rewritten since I read it many years ago. He was a pioneer aviator & test pilot who achieved far more than the Tokyo Raid that he's most famous for.

Thanks Doug, I've been meaning to get hold of Test Pilot and Sigh for a Merlin. I shall try to track them down, thanks for the reminder.

If you've not read Bill Ash's book

"We Landed by Moonlight" - G/C Hugh Verity, about SOE drop operations into France

Sir Geoffrey de Havillands autobiography is worth a read ("Sky Fever"), as is Sir Stanley Hooker's autobiography "Not much of an Engineer", which although ground based, gives an amazing insight into British engineering and engine production from the early 30s to the Concorde and Harrier, including how to make the Merlin a much better engine...

I've also been meaning to read the new Falklands book by Dave Morgan (of Sea Harrier fame)...


XM607's tough to beat though. One of the best books I've read in a long time...

If you're willing to veer off the RAF history path, take a look at my bookshelves... Ernest Gann and  Antoine St.-Exupery lived the life and wrote some of the best stories ever about military and civilian flying... and although best known for much more philosophical adventures, Richard Bach began writing as a NATO pilot on alert to fly nukes into Soviet territory, and his Stranger to the Ground is a very intense and truthful look into the mind of a military pilot. Almost the entire story takes place inside the cockpit of an F84-F during a night flight.
Chuck Yeager's autobiography is also very interesting... and you'll also want to check out Martin Caidin, who was a brilliant test pilot, adventurer, and visionary.

Well right now Im reading Wings by Tom Crouch, its the history of aviation, just very concise and well written.  

Thanks Rotty, St Ex is a good suggestion. Paul Richey encountered him during the phoney war in France and was baffled by card tricks, he sounds like a fascinating fellow.

Jake, I prefer the first hand accounts. I've read "Fighter Boys" and "The most dangerous enemy", but they lose something compared to the diary and first hand recollections, it feels like I'm reading history textbooks again

Vulcan 607 at the same time treads that fine line very well, and although you 'know' how it turns out the drama that it depicts in terms of narrow margins and half chances is amazing. You're left with the impression that, without precedent, it couldn't have been done any other way.

Various recommendations from the reading pile:

• Snake Pilot by Randy Zahn, flying the Cobra attack helicopter in Vietnam.  Surprisingly gripping.
  
• Duel Under The Stars by Wilhelm Johnen, and I Flew for the Fuhrer by Heinz Knoke.  WW2 air combat, as told by German fighter pilots.  And of course, Stuka Pilot by Hans-Ulrich Rudel.  All very good.
  
• Samurai by Saburo Sakai is in a similar vein from a Japanese viewpoint (Sakai scored 64 kills), it's on the shelf but I haven't read it yet, YMMV.
  
• Enemy Coast Ahead by Guy Gibson, if you haven't read it already.
  
• Stormbird by Hermann Buchner, a Luftwaffe ground attack pilot and Me262 ace (not many people could put that on their career record).

There are plenty more, those are just the ones I can see from where I'm sitting  ;D

Gryshnak

Roland Beamonts auto/biography is quite a good one.

Thanks Rotty, St Ex is a good suggestion. Paul Richey encountered him during the phoney war in France and was baffled by card tricks, he sounds like a fascinating fellow.

Jake, I prefer the first hand accounts. I've read "Fighter Boys" and "The most dangerous enemy", but they lose something compared to the diary and first hand recollections, it feels like I'm reading history textbooks again

Vulcan 607 at the same time treads that fine line very well, and although you 'know' how it turns out the drama that it depicts in terms of narrow margins and half chances is amazing. You're left with the impression that, without precedent, it couldn't have been done any other way.

Ive only read one first hand account (too busy reading required books), and it was Wiley Post and Harold Gatty's autobiography about their round the world trip.  I forgot about it until now, but now that I remembered I suggest you read it, it was really good!

Ive only read one first hand account (too busy reading required books), and it was Wiley Post and Harold Gatty's autobiography about their round the world trip.  I forgot about it until now, but now that I remembered I suggest you read it, it was really good!

One of these days I'll get to that one...
Which reminds me; there's a terrific book about Will Rogers' and Wiley Post's ill-fated last flight, which sort of intertwines their biographies as well (Death at Barrow by Sterling B. Bryan and Sterling N. Frances).
Which reminds me  ( )of another good one: Flying Cold, a biography of Alaskan aviation pioneer Russell Merrill, co-written by his son.

Flight of Passage - Rinker Buck

Grub Street Publishing in London have recently released a lot of WWII pilots autobiographies that are worth a read (especially for British Spitfire fanatics);

The War Diaries of Neville Duke - Neville Duke (some epic drinking and fighting I just hope Doug listens to my advice and gets round to reading this one soon)
Dancing In The Skies - Tony Jonsson (the only Icelander in the RAF, v.v.funny, in fact one of my favourites)
Spitfire Offensive - R.W.F. Sampson (nice personal book)
Straight & Level - Sir Kenneth "Bing" Cross (another excellent personal account of the war)

Other ones I can recommend are;

Wing Leader - Johnny Johnson (a must have!)
Kiwi Spitfire Ace - Jack Rae (humourous account of the war and being a POW)
Warburtons War - Tony Spooner (an unusual and excellent book on the legendary PR pilot)
Invasion Without Tears - Berger/Street (Canadian book but beautifully written by the units intel. officer and v.funny in places)
Oh and anything by Terry Pratchett 'cos it is dead funny

Grub Street Publishing in London have recently released a lot of WWII pilots autobiographies that are worth a read (especially for British Spitfire fanatics);

The War Diaries of Neville Duke - Neville Duke (some epic drinking and fighting I just hope Doug listens to my advice and gets round to reading this one soon)

I can pick up a new signed copy at Tangmere for a reasonable price. I was hoping to get the man himself to sign it personally for me. Unfortunately I'm not sure if or when I'll be seeing him again.

I suggest
"I Could Never Be So Lucky Again" Jimmy Doolittle's Autobiography. It begins at the bombing raid then goes to his life. A VERY GOOD read
"A Flying Tiger Diary" By Charles R. Bond. This is a great first hand account of the Flying Tigers Squ. How they flew, where they went, how they party'd. EXCELLENT read