Classic Flying Books?
Chris Scott
which was just excellent reading. What other classic piloting books
have I missed?
Anyone have a good list of Aviation classics?
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Killacoors
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I am an avid Richard Bach fan. I can recommend:
"Stranger to the ground"
"Jonathan Livingston Seagull"
"One"
...and any other Richard Bach book you can get your hands on.
Andy Gamache
> Chris Scott wrote:
> >
> > I just finished the classic Ernest Gann book *Fate is the Hunter*,
> >
> > which was just excellent reading. What other classic piloting books
> > have I missed?
> >
Try "Blaze of Noon." This was the first book I ever read by Gann.
It's about the trials of four brothers that are also air mail pilots.
Later!!
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Aluminum up, rubber down
Andy Gamache aga...@junix.ju.edu
http://junix.ju.edu/UsrWebPages/agamach/home.html
Sr Rigger SJ8 Back, Seat, Chest
PA-SEL
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Wayne D. Cochrane
personal recommendations of other good aviation writing.
A relatively unknown, recent and beautifully written book is Samuel
Hynes' "A Flight of Passage". He is now Woodrow Wilson Professor of
literature at Yale; in WWII, he was a Marine pilot.
Wayne
Michael Tanner
Bach's books have been out of print for a long time, but they're all
back in print now. I don't know if that means he's won his various
legal battles and now gets royalties again or not. For my money the
best are _Stranger to the Ground_ and _A Gift of Wings_. _Biplane_
and _Nothing By Chance_ are pretty good, too. I have sentimental soft
spot for _Illusions_, but I don't think it's very good objectively.
Most of his later stuff is way too spiritual for my taste.
As for Ernie Gann, among his aviation novels are gems and clunkers.
_Fate is the Hunter_ is a gem. So is _Blaze of Noon_. I didn't like
_Band of Brothers_. For what it's worth, here's a review I posted
some time back of another gem _In the Company of Eagles_:
IN THE COMPANY OF EAGLES
by Ernest K. Gann
published by Simon and Schuster, New York
1966
reviewed by Mike Tanner
In 1964 Jack D. Hunter published his novel of WWI aviation, The Blue Max,
which 20th Century Fox made into a movie two years later starring George
Peppard and featuring some of the most beautiful aerial photography ever
committed to film. There followed a period of mostly forgettable movies,
valuable reissues of memoirs by both famous and unknown WWI pilots, popular
histories, and other novels both good and bad. Among the good novels was
Ernie Gann's IN THE COMPANY OF EAGLES.
I recently found a used copy of IN THE COMPANY OF EAGLES at Wonder Book and
Video in Frederick, MD. I bought it even though my first experience with it
when it was new was pretty negative. But then I was thirteen and mostly
interested in WWI for the adventure. This is definitely not an adventure
novel. It tells the story of a French pilot who is seeking revenge on a
particular German pilot, while the German mainly wants to survive the war.
Not a very original premise, but the story takes some interesting twists, and
has Gann's usual insights about airplanes and pilots that give a feel for what
life is like for his characters. There is a somber tone that reflects that
found in some of the more honest memoirs of the time -- the fear of both death
and dishonor, the sense of futility, anger at the senseless behavior of high
command, good people at the sharp end trying to do their best in difficult
situations.
The two pilots go about their business separately, each with some honor and
success, the one always seeking the other. Both are a little bit crazy, one
made so by revenge, the other by constant strain. Eventually they meet in the
climactic, unforgettable, air battle, one on one amid towering cumulus. It's
almost worth reading the whole novel for that one battle and Gann's vivid
description. But there are other things to like as well -- the comical French
mechanic, the picture of unintended brutality on the hospital train, the
German and French home fronts, and the hilarious fate of the Kempinksi's ham
which is so crazy it has to be true.
The novel contains some minor historical anachronisms, but they are not
particularly important.
Highly recommended.
(At the same time and place that I found this book I also found a copy of The
Blue Max, which is long out of print. I've never read it, but someday I will
and post a review.)
Adam Ronthal
Killacoors <killa...@cyberstation.net> wrote:
>I am an avid Richard Bach fan. I can recommend:
>
>"Stranger to the ground"
>"Jonathan Livingston Seagull"
>"One"
>
Also, "A Gift of Wings"
-Adam
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Rich Ahrens
friend tells me his uncle wrote it, a memoir of his experiences as a WWI
flyer. I've been looking for it, but it seems to be long out of print.
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Walt Shiel
>
> I am an avid Richard Bach fan. I can recommend:
>
> "Stranger to the ground"
> "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"
> "One"
>
> ...and any other Richard Bach book you can get your hands on.
Bach was great...until he adopted the New Age movement -- like in "One." He's
really lost his grip on reality ever since. But I do like those early Bach
books and really wish I'd saved those articles he wrote back in the '70s. Really
good stuff.
--
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Walt Shiel
Author: "Cessna Warbirds, A Detailed and Personal History
of Cessna's Involvement in the Armed Forces"
For More Info, Email: wsh...@airmail.net
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Richard Bielak
Andy Gamache <afn1...@afn.org> wrote:
Don't forget "The High and the Mighty" by E. Gann.
Also:
"Wind, Sand and Stars", "Flight to Arras", "Night Flight" and
"Southern Mail" by Antoine de Saint Exupery.
...richie
--
* ric...@ritz.mordor.com - at home | Richie Bielak *
* ric...@calfp.com - at work | *
* >> If it were readable, it wouldn't be called "code". (me) << *
*------------------------------------------------------------------*
HOWARD EISENHAUER
: Chris Scott wrote:
: >
: > I just finished the classic Ernest Gann book *Fate is the Hunter*,
: >
*Snip
: I am an avid Richard Bach fan. I can recommend:
: "Stranger to the ground"
: "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"
: "One"
:
: ...and any other Richard Bach book you can get your hands on.
Not exactly a "Flying" book, but I highly recommend "Glidepath" by Arthur
C. Clarke. It's more of a "They also Serve" WW2 kinda thing, & if you've
ever done a Radar Precision Approach you'll find it fascinating.
--
Howard Eisenhauer on **************************************
* *
Chebucto Community Network * Can't think of anything cute *
Halifax Nova Scotia * to put in here *
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aa...@ccn.cs.dal.ca **************************************
Andrew Boyd
>But I do like those early Bach books and really wish I'd saved those
>articles he wrote back in the '70s. Really good stuff.
get _A Gift Of Wings_ ... a compilation of Bach's articles from
the 60's and very early 70's, before he started hanging around
with shirley maclaine and the hollywood bell-bottomed astral
projection set :>
--
#include <std.disclaimer>
Richard Tweedie
>Has anyone ever seen a copy of "The Fledgling" by Art Whitehouse? A
>friend tells me his uncle wrote it, a memoir of his experiences as a WWI
>flyer. I've been looking for it, but it seems to be long out of print.
>
My memory may be incorrect, but I thought it was Archie Whitehouse. If
it was, he wrote more than one book on WW1 flying I believe.
Rich Tweedie
Ed WInchester
I'm rather surprised that nobody has mentioned the works of Nevil Shute,
of "On the Beach" fame. I think almost all of his books are either
about flying or sailing. The last one I read was "So Disdained"
(flying). I also seem to remember that "Round the Bend" and "The
Rainbow and the Rose" are in that category. I also agree with all the
above quotes about Bach.
--
Ed Winchester
edwin@vl_wssf_mail.chinalake.navy.mil
ed...@ridgecrest.ca.us
http://www1.ridgecrest.ca.us/~edwin
patterson,george r
HOWARD EISENHAUER <aa...@ccn.cs.dal.ca> wrote:
>: Chris Scott wrote:
>: >
>: > I just finished the classic Ernest Gann book *Fate is the Hunter*,
>Not exactly a "Flying" book, but I highly recommend "Glidepath" by Arthur
>C. Clarke.
Check for this one in the Sci-Fi section of used bookstores. They take
one look at the author and stick it in there. It's actually a factual
novel based on Clarke's wartime work.
Also check in regular bookstores for the "Air & Space" series of paperbacks
published by Bantam. I have _The Last of the Bush Pilots_, _The Electra
Story_, _Blaze of Noon_, _Band of Brothers_, and _The Sky Beyond_. There
are at least 19 books in the series.
My experience is that anything by Ernie Gann will be excellent. You
frequently find some of his non-aviation novels in used bookstores.
Martin Caidin is also pretty good, but he tends to abuse statistics,
has a bee in his bonnet about UFOs, and sensationalizes a bit.
If you get interested in wartime aviation, drop me a line. I can send
you a much longer list.
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| All four wheel drive does is let you get further
George Patterson - | away from help before you get into trouble.
| John Smyre
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Phaedra A Hise
titles. If you give me a fax # I can fax it to you.
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Jeffrey M. Matthews
In article <4lm533$h...@dasher.cc.bellcore.com>,
patterson,george r <pat...@cc.bellcore.com> wrote:
>Martin Caidin is also pretty good, but he tends to abuse statistics,
>has a bee in his bonnet about UFOs, and sensationalizes a bit.
You understate a bit.
Jeff Matthews
wendel...@gmail.com
> I just finished the classic Ernest Gann book *Fate is the Hunter*,which was just excellent reading. What other classic piloting books have I missed?Anyone have a good list of Aviation classics?-- Chris...@WKU.EDU Chief Engineer, Public Radio- Western KY U Telco: (502) 745-3834 Hm & Fax: (502) 781-1232 ...just another insignificant VAX user. \\\//(o o) --------------------------------------------ooO-(_)-Ooo-----------------------
If I had to keep just one, it would be The Spirit of St Louis by Charles Lindbergh
It is SO well done, I suspect a helper, like his wife Anne, quote,
"To A.M.L. Who will never realize how much of this book she has written"