Bush Pilot Angler by Lee Wulff is a well-written memoir. http://royalwulff.com/products/lee-wulff-bush-pilot-angler/ Also available on Amazon. He explored Newfoundland in a J-3 on floats. There's lots of good fishing and evocative descriptions of the country.

CAVU

Bushcaddy wrote:Flyingzebra thanks....I found myself thinking about the Dog Stars several weeks after finishing...truly makes you think. I also gave it to my wife to read and she enjoyed it as well even though not a pilot. Like you said, the style is unusual and takes a bit of getting used to. I read a lot and this one really hit me.

I bought the e-book version to read on my flight over to PA. It kind of reads like a poem about the end of the world that involves and airplane and military tactics.

Yeah, his writing (Dog Stars author) is tough to get used to. Kinda throws normal sentence structure out the window. I'm wondering if it's meant to be a mental vernacular (we don't think in complete sentences,) or he's just not a good writer. Haha.

Zzz wrote:Yeah, his writing (Dog Stars author) is tough to get used to. Kinda throws normal sentence structure out the window. I'm wondering if it's meant to be a mental vernacular (we don't think in complete sentences,) or he's just not a good writer. Haha.

To follow up on this, I've decided that Heller is a brilliant wordsmith. The unconventional writing style is a rather liberating vehicle for some amazing imagery and internal dialogue of the main character. I'm nearly finished but have grown to really enjoy the style and the character he's developed.

I'm 3/4's of the way through Atlantic Fever: Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the Atlantic, by Joe Jackson.
It provides a lot of detail about the historical and cultural context surrounding the Orteig Prize, and the half-dozen or so teams competing to be the first to cross the Atlantic. It includes some interesting descriptions of the pilots and planes, and has a pretty startling hypothesis about an attempt by the french team of Nungesser and Coli.
-DP

Neil Armstrong-A Life of Flight.

Great book, about a very humble but incredibly gifted aviator.

MTV

This guy is offering his books for free. Don't know how long this offer lasts...

http://www.amazon.com/Eric-Auxier/e/B00971H8VW

I'm currently reading this. Winging It!: Jack Jefford, Pioneer Alaska Aviator. The story-telling style is lively, and it moves along pretty quickly. More so than some of the other Barnstorm-Get-an-Airmail-Contract-Move-to-Alaska-Dawn-of-Aviation narratives out there.
-DP

I haven't read that many aviation books but 'Winging It" is by far my favorite one. In fact it has been a few years and I have a long drive coming up next week so I'll go check it out from the library so I have something to read while my dad drives.

"Week-end Pilot" by Frank Kingston Smith. Not exactly about backcountry or bush flying but a great read written by a guy fed up with his life as a lawyer and decided to try flying and changes his life.

It was given to me by my flight instructor and I read it within about 48 hours. Entertaining and extremely well written.

Just picked up this book a couple of days ago, I love reading about the history of these strips that are in my back yard.

Almost done with his one.

Jake

I agree anything Gann is a great read (just finished fate is the hunter). A couple of good books i haven't seen listed yet are North Star Over My Shoulder and Weather Flying. Both are by Robert N. Buck, North Star Over My Shoulder is Bucks autobiography detailing his first flights in early bi-planes all the way through his last flight with TWA piloting a 747 .

I was disappointed with Gan's Fate is the Hunter. Several of the situations in the first half of the book were resolved purely by luck due to his inability or unwillingness to make it a decision. I understand his overarching premiss, but from a purely pilot risk reduction/assumption standpoint, he failed to connect the dots for me. I also got sick of reading the different descriptions of him sweating. I get it, you're hot and stressed.

Brett

UH-60andC-180 wrote:I was disappointed with Gan's Fate is the Hunter. Several of the situations in the first half of the book were resolved purely by luck due to his inability or unwillingness to make it a decision. I understand his overarching premiss, but from a purely pilot risk reduction/assumption standpoint, he failed to connect the dots for me. I also got sick of reading the different descriptions of him sweating. I get it, you're hot and stressed.

Brett

Some well-meaning person once gave me a copy of Gann's "The Aviator". I can truly say I've never been the least bit tempted to pick up anything else of his after that. Not sure how I even finished that one. The prose was painful.
-DP

I read True North: exploring the great wilderness by bush plane
http://amzn.to/1xEh7uX

Very interesting for someone like myself planning a trip around Canada's North he has a bunch of knowledge and talks about some must sees. He is however not much of a writer, I have a hard time figuring in some of his stories whether he is talking about his current trip or of previous trips.

I would call it a must read if you are planning to do any flying in Canada's far north on floats

Wings of the North by Dick Turner (1976). Dick Turner was a trapper & trading post operator in the Liard River country of NWT. In 1958 he decided to learn to fly and buy a plane so he could get mail & supplies easier, plus get his pelts to market sooner for better prices. He went on to become an accomplished bush pilot / hunting guide. Some good accounts of flying in the 60's & 70's in that part of the north.

Mountain Flying by Doug Geeting was my very first mountain flying book. I bought the book at Oshkosh when it first came out in 1988. The below pick is my original copy that I smoked the pages of for quite a few fort night as you can tell.



I was fortunate enough to meet Doug in the summer of 1987 during a trip to Alaska with my Grandparents and had to put the full court press on to stop in Talkeetna. The year before I bought a magazine at the time called if I remember correctly Alaska Flying magazine that featured Doug on the cover. I was 16 in the below photo.

I don't think this one has been mentioned yet, Adventures of an Idaho Mountain Pilot, by Harold Dougal published in June 2104. I'm a little over half way through it and will be sorry to see it end. A very interesting book of pioneering flight into the backcountry during the 40's and 50's. Dougal spent his working life flying into the strips that will be familiar to many here. Highly recommended and available on Kindle.

Enjoy.

Frank

fshaw wrote:I don't think this one has been mentioned yet, Adventures of an Idaho Mountain Pilot, by Harold Dougal published in June 2104. I'm a little over half way through it and will be sorry to see it end. A very interesting book of pioneering flight into the backcountry during the 40's and 50's. Dougal spent his working life flying into the strips that will be familiar to many here. Highly recommended and available on Kindle.

Enjoy.

Frank

I hope I'm still alive when it's published! Or I need a ride in your time machine...