Good Book I discovered

[mulwyk]

Re: Good Book I discovered

You're right Rob:

"Stick and Rudder" must be the best how-to-fly book ever written. I can't think of too many aviation books that are still in print 60 years later!

Bob

[Joel Severinghaus]

Re: Good Book I discovered

I second Ambassador Lees' recommendation of "The Complete Taildragger Pilot."

Some other tailwheel instruction books I seem to have accumulated, in descending order of preference, are:

"Taildragger Tactics" by Sparky Imeson (2004) www.mountainflying.com

"Tailwheel Transition Training Manual" by Rand Peck (undated but recent) www.sandraviation.com

"Taming the Taildragger" by John Ball (1977)

"Conventional Gear: Flying a Taildragger" by David Robson (2001)

Bob, I also have all those Assen Jordanoff books from the 40s. The pen and ink illustrations are classic, and so much more instructive than today's computer clip-art. Actually, I just discovered, looking through my bookshelves, that I seem to have an extra copy of "Through the Overcast" and two extra copies of "Your Wings." If somebody wants them, PM me - I need the shelf space. I'm especially thrilled to have found a Spanish version of "Your Wings" - "Tus Alas" - published in Barcelona in 1941. Ran across that in a used bookstore in Buenos Aires (I travel a lot for work, and I'm lucky to hit bookstores and aviation museums around the world.)

And of course, all the books of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Ernest Gann, Richard Bach, and Martin Caidin go without saying. I'll confess to carrying a copy of Bach's "Messiah's Handbook" in my baggage compartment tool kit for inspirational consultation.

As long as we're out-doing Oprah's book club, here are some more older book recommendations for Bob and any Anglophiles:

"Solo to Sydney" by Sir Francis Chichester (1930) England to Australia in a DeHavilland Gypsy Moth

"Seaplane Solo" by Sir Francis Chichester (1934) Australia to New Zealand in the same plane

"Airymouse" by Harald Penrose (1967) pre-war kiting around England in a tiny biplane

"Cloud Cuckooland" by Harald Penrose (1981) more reminiscenses of flying over the English countryside

An excellent more recent book by a female pilot, because we need more female voices in aviation:

"Flying South: A Pilot's Inner Journey" by Barbara Cushman Rowell (2002) around South America in a Cessna 206, with gorgeous photos

And three cartoon books I read over and over:

"'There I was...' 25 Years" by Bob Stevens (1968) cartoons from Air Force magazine

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! Spin Instructions Please!" by Bob Stevens (1990) ten years of his best civilian flying cartoons

"The Cessna, The Sky,... and the Cartoonist" by John Ewing (1998) an Australian cartoonist's illustrated diary of learning to fly Cessna 152s

[48fordnut]

Re: Good Book I discovered

JDORAN, I just rec the expensive, free pkg of dvds you sent . Thank you very much. I will pass them around in my groupe,(;f then if any one on here wants to listen, they will get their chance. need any thing, just ask.

[high time cub]

Re: Good Book I discovered

The best learning-to-fly books of that era were written by Assen Jordanoff. Jordanoff was a pilot in the Hungarian air corp in WWI, a Curtiss-Wright engineer, and an American Airlines capitan in the 30's. His books were widely used to train flight crews in WWII.

"Flying and How to Do It!" (1932) Heavily illustrated in cartoon style

Those great cartoons were by Larry Whittington.

http://www.toonopedia.com/fritzi.htm

http://lambiek.net/artists/b/bushmiller_e.htm

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Good Book I discovered

The book that stoked the fires of my desire to fly was The High And The Mighty. (I have the DVD in B&W and enjoy it often). I was eight when I first read it, and then I saw the movie on T.V. about a month later. I really enjoy ALL of E.K.Gs books on flying, he could put you right in the cockpit with the characters. The Two Bach books that I like are Stranger To The Ground, and Biplane. After that, he went off on some new age crusade.