Books Every Pilot Should Read

TravDK

TravDK

Well-Known Member
I am at a time in my life where I am grounded! Sucks I know. Finishing up my degree at the university and saving a little money before I pursue my dream. Anyways, I have found reading about flying is the next best thing. It keeps my moral high and my thirst for flying brawnier than ever plus I know it will make me a better and safer pilot when I get back into the left seat. I just read 101 Things To Do With Your Private Pilot's License (even though I don't have it) by Leroy Cook. I really liked it and although I didn't learn a whole lot of new information, I was forced to think about what I have learned so far. So here is a free shout out for Leroy, read his book!

I was wondering if any of you pilots out there (who I admire so much) could think of books that you think a pilot should take the time to read (aside from my manuals, FAR etc.) I would love the suggestions and more than likely read them before you make your next post. Thanks.

P.S. This is my first thread on jetcareers and I would like to give a quick THANK YOU to Doug Taylor and everybody who post on this site. You are simply INVALUABLE! Glad to be part of this.
 
Anything by Ernest K. Gann!

check out Fate is the Hunter or Island in the Sky.

Both are great books.

He is an aviation God.
 
if you are into military planes, really know their systems (CCIP, CCRP, DTOS etc lol) vipers in the storm was an AWESOMEEEE book...

i felt like I was there the hole time... it is a diary of a F16 pilot in desert storm...

man, i seriouisly finished that book in 2 days, and wrote him an email telling him how much I fell in love with the book
 
Fate is the hunter
North Star Over my shoulder by Bob Buck
Moondogs Academy of the Air-Pete Fusco

All must reads.
Do not post again until all have been read. JK
 
JEP said:
Fate Is The Hunter

Captain I
Captain II
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Word. And Jim, thanks for letting me and John borrow those last two. They rocked.

If you're planning on doing the airline thing, I highly suggest Flying the Line Vol 1 and 2 if you can get a copy. I snagged Vol 2 at a Goodwill store and I got a copy of Vol 1 when I got to the airline.
 
kellwolf said:
Word. And Jim, thanks for letting me and John borrow those last two. They rocked.

If you're planning on doing the airline thing, I highly suggest Flying the Line Vol 1 and 2 if you can get a copy. I snagged Vol 2 at a Goodwill store and I got a copy of Vol 1 when I got to the airline.
Click to expand...


Just doing my part to pay it forward in any way possible! No Problem....
 
Stick and Rudder by Langewiesche is a must read for aviators. Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators (published by ASA, I think) is also an excellent book.

For military flying, I personally like Thud Ridge (although you have to filter out a lot of the prejudices of the author, Jack Broughton) and When Thunder Rolled by Ed Rasimus. Both are books about flying F-105s in Vietnam. If you want more than just "there I was" stories, Fighter Combat by Shaw is excellent.
 
If you want to get technical then Fly the Wing is great.

A must have is Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot
 
North Star Over My Shoulder - Bob Buck, one of my favorite reads in a long time. Wow, what a charmed life that guy has lead!

The Greatest Flying Stories Ever Told - This book is a bunch of excerpts from other books. But that let me taste several great flying books and then go buy the ones that I really enjoyed.

The Spirit of Saint Louis - Lindburg, a really well written account of his trip across the atlantic.

Stick and Rudder is a really good one if you're just starting to fly. It explains basic airmanship in ways that many CFI's have trouble putting words to. It uses some dated terms for some items, like calling elevators "flippers," but is still a good read.
 
Stick and Rudder is good, and I plan to get my hands on Flying the Wing. I've had a couple of guys here at Pinnacle tell me it's good for getting a handle on high speed and high altitude aerodynamics. They don't spend a lot of time on that in training here, even after 3701.

As far as military, I lean towards the WWII stuff. The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle is an excellent read. Non-aviation, but good from the German perspective, is Knight's Cross, the biography of Rommel.
 
Reading North Star right now...

I have some opinions about it, but I'll wait to finish it...

Planning on picking up Machado's PPL and INS books, too.
 
Flying the Line and Flying the Line Vol II by George E. Hopkins.

Good historical summary of unions, specifically ALPA and the airlines.

In case you might already be a union member, especially ALPA these two books are in the must read category. Gives a good perspective of where we once were, which rams headlong into where we are today.

While a lot is due to management, a lot is self induced.
 
"Illusions" - by Richard Bach
"Stick and Rudder" - by Langewiesch

Both of these complement one another. Illusions is about the philosophy of flying, and stick & rudder is about the physical application of the principles brought out in Illusions.

Read them both.
 
Stranger to the Ground by Richard Bach was good but the book I got the most out of as far as flying goes was Jeppesen's Instrument/Commercial manual.
 
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