Finally remembered one of my favorites: "Winging It!: Jack Jefford, Pioneer Alaskan Aviator" By Jack Jefford.

Jefford passed around the time I moved to Alaska, so I never met him, but a couple of my mentors knew him well and flew with him a lot.

The book has lots of fun stories by a really great Alaska pilot.

MTV

mtv wrote:Finally remembered one of my favorites: "Winging It!: Jack Jefford, Pioneer Alaskan Aviator" By Jack Jefford.

Jefford passed around the time I moved to Alaska, so I never met him, but a couple of my mentors knew him well and flew with him a lot.

The book has lots of fun stories by a really great Alaska pilot.

MTV

One of my faves too. About time to read it again.

Also, I added the affiliate link so I can earn $0.25

I've curated a list here, but I can always add more. Need to review this thread.

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge-base/pilot-resources/bush-flying-library

I just started a new book titled "Flying Naked" by Michael Bleriot. It's available in Amazon's Kindle store. It is the story of flight ops in Central and South America in C-27A Spartan aircraft. That is a twin engine turbo prop developed in Italy, and although a LOT bigger than what most of us fly, the stories about flying in the Jungles to our south are very relatable. While reading the first 10 pages I was laughing so hard, my wife came in to ask me what was going on. That's a good sign this will be a great read. The writing is offhanded and funny in ways pilots of any aircraft will enjoy. The blurb on Amazon promoting this book says: "A lost pilot. A hidden treasure. A squadron of misfit flyers determined to find both.
From military veteran and pilot Michael Bleriot comes a wry, funny, and exciting aviation adventure over the jungles of South America."

An interesting aside is that I did a forum search for Fly and Naked to see if anyone else had already recommended this book. It's amazing how often those two words appear in the same post, and none of those appearances were in reference to a book. This is an interesting group for sure...

Just bought this one this weekend: "Hogs in the Sand" by Buck Wyndam. Buck was an A-10 pilot during Desert Storm, and this is a smoothed out version of his diary from the Gulf War.

If the book is half as good as Buck's seminar this weekend at the Minnesota Aviation Conference, it should be a winner.

MTV

Just ordered seven of the books you guys suggested from www.thriftbooks.com. The total cost came out to just under $48 delivered

A buddy of mine just loaned me this one.
Pretty good so far.
I think the Idaho Aviation Assn sells it.

I would highly recommend The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

I thought I had a pretty good idea of their story but this is a great read with lots of detail of the building process. In three years the Wrights INVENTED and built the first airplane. At the time the spent under $1,000 while Langley had a $50,000 grant for his machine that ended up directly in the drink. It is a fascinating story of drive and innovation during a time of incredible ingenuity in our country. I would say this is mandatory for all pilots, especially if you are a home builder.

Imagine their threads on the internet "Hey guys wing warping or ailerons? Thanks Orville" or "We are going to need some kind of propulsion device but can only find info on ship propellers. Anyone got some ideas? Winter in Kill Devil Hills sucks. Wilbur"

They did seek out advice from a few other people but stunning to think about just how much they had to come up with completely from scratch. Mainly they observed birds and tried to figure out how they stayed in control. Not only invent the airplane but then figure out how to fly it on top of all of that. Hard to believe.

But they were bicycle guys. Airplane control is a lot like riding a bike.

Bushcaddy wrote:The Dog Stars

This is a novel set in the future after the apocalypse (pandemic that wiped out 98%). The basis is the main character is living at the airport (in Colorado) where he kept his plane..a '56 Cessna 182. After a period of 10 years or so he decides to follow a radio call he heard some time before. Loads the plane with fuel and eventually passes the point where he can't make it back.

Slow start but by mid way I couldn't put it down. Very introspective and is more a narrative. No quotation marks so a bit hard to follow at times. Amazingly well written...makes you think.

I read this book and really liked it. It has been made into a movie that will be coming out later this year (2026).

A relatively new series of aviation books by Nate Van Coops has been released over the past couple of years. They all have "Tropic" in the title. There is "Tropic Angel", "Tropic Descent", "Tropic Hustle" and the latest one, "Tropic Envy". The first three follow a seaplane charter business in South Florida built around a Grumman Goose he has in the hangar. The latest book in the series has a Stearman on the cover, so it might have a different focus. I just bought it and haven't read it yet. These aren't flying books, they are mysteries that revolve around flying, but there is plenty of accurate writing about flying seaplanes in the 3 I've read so far. I think these are a great way to occupy an early spring day when the weather is just below VFR minimums.