Hello All,

I will be on a long flight 06/24 from Los Angeles to France and I am looking for a few good books to consider to read. In the interest of time, PDF or kindle versions would be best. I tend to read biographies on famous pilots and have read the following: Eddie Rickenbacker, Billy Bishop, Red Barron..notice a trend.. also Charles Lindbergh and Chuck Yeager. Was considering either one of the Amelia Earheart books, Or since I am heading to France a biography on Charles Nungesser or George Guynemer. However, I wouldn't mind a book about some back country adventures. If you've read a good one worth mentioning please let me know.

Best regards,

Marc

It's tough to beat "Unbroken". Especially since you'll be flying over water. "Glacier Pilot" is also interesting and about a pioneer of backcountry pilots. "Flyboys" is more of a war history lesson and is pretty intense. I could only read a chapter or two and then would have to let it sit for a week or so. Of the three I'd go with Unbroken.

CW

I am really enjoying " Notes from the Cockpit" by Dick Williams.
It was great that I met Dick for the first time at Temperance Creek in Hell's Canyon this spring as he was dropping off a load of his new books. Great First hand stories of the Idaho Backcountry.

Alan

Marc,

I've always enjoyed Ernest Gann. Pioneer pilot and great story teller.

Happy travels.

For All the Wrong Reasons by Bill Robinet

Try my cohort CloudDancer's Alaska Chronicles.

http://clouddancer.org

Gump

clippwagon wrote:It's tough to beat "Unbroken". Especially since you'll be flying over water. "Glacier Pilot" is also interesting and about a pioneer of backcountry pilots. "Flyboys" is more of a war history lesson and is pretty intense. I could only read a chapter or two and then would have to let it sit for a week or so. Of the three I'd go with Unbroken.

CW

These are all excellent. I'd add "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again", Jimmy Doolittle's autobiography; "Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds"; "A Hundred Feet Over Hell" by Jim Cooper; "Flight of Passage" by Rinker Buck. All will keep your attention.

Cary

"Our Flight to Adventure" by Tay & Lowell Thomas Jr. about their 1955 trip in a C180 from Paris, down thru & across Africa & the middle east, then back to Paris.

"Three Eight Charlie" by Jeri Mock, about her solo around the world flight in 1964 in her C180.

Yes, Ernest K. Gann, Fate Is The Hunter.

I also highly recommend Border Pilot, by M.W. Bourne. It's an autobiography by a former cropduster. You can read it online at borderpilot.com or buy it in hard or paperback from all the usual sources.

Well, since you are going to France you should read up on Antoine de Saint-Exupery. His book "The Little Prince" is the 3rd most translated book ever. Probably behind the Bible and the Quran. Check him out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind,_Sand_and_Stars

Flying the Feathered Edge on Bob Hoover, not a bush pilot but a great book, I had to read it twice it was so good!

Hello All,

Wow such great replies and choices. I will have a look at all mentioned and pick 2 to bring with me. Wind Sand and Stars, Fate is the Hunter and I could never be so lucky again seem right up my alley. I am a big Doolittle fan.

Thanks everyone,

Marc

Illusions by Richard Bach. It's sort of a biography

"Last of the Bush Pilots", by Harmon Helmericks was very interesting.

Have a great time in France, and make sure to spend some time in air museums and such over there. Americans tend to forget (not always accidentally) that the majority of early aviation development came out of France. Aileron, Longeron, Empennage, Decalage... those are all French words.

Aileron sounds a lot more romantic than Querruder anyway

A couple of good flying books I've read include:

Chasing the Glory by Michael Parfit. This is a travelogue about a Cessna pilot that retraced the 25,000 mile flight Lindberg made zig-zagging the country to promote aviation after his transatlantic flight. It is a wonderful paean on aviation and America.

No Parachute by Arthur Gould Lee - this is a compelling story of WWI aviation. The title comes from the fact that the brass in aviation units would not allow pilots to use parachutes. The thinking was that without parachutes, the pilots would fight more aggressively. Pretty sick. It is also a good tale of how difficult and unpredictable those planes were. Far more pilots were killed by accidents than by combat.

Finally, there are a couple of biographies out that cover the life of Alberto Santos Dumont. He was a Brazilian living in Paris and a contemporary of the Wright brothers. He won numerous aviation awards and had a long string of firsts in the aviation world in both lighter than air, and heavier than air ships. The book Wings of Madness by Paul Hoffman has gotten rave reviews for both its portrayal of Dumont and for its descriptions of Paris at the turn of the last century. Given your itinerary, that could be a good choice. Although I have not read the book, Dumont was my hero as I was growing up. I read lots of wild stories about him during my teenage years as I worked to become a pilot.

Here's a couple I can recommend...

So You Want To Be a Ferry Pilot -- Spike Nasmyth

Into The Fire: Ploesti, The Most Fateful Mission of WW II -- Duane Schultz

Flying the Alaska Wild & The Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles -- Mort Mason

The Immortal Beaver -- Sean Rossiter

And.. ANYTHING written by Ernest Gann.

Alan

A Higher Call
http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incre ... 0425255735

Marc, if you haven't seen it, I have been trying to compile my personal bookshelf favorites here:

Bush pilot tales/bios
https://www.backcountrypilot.org/knowle ... ng-library

Instruction-oriented
https://www.backcountrypilot.org/knowle ... onal-books

I continue to add to it though; maybe I will try some of the ones mentioned in this thread.

Just finished "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough and enjoyed it greatly.

A colleague of mine just published a book about bush flying in New Guinea. Just started reading it, will write a review when I am done.


http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Knife-Edge ... B00XJYYL90

Winging It, by Jack Jefford. Real live, no bullshit Alaska bush flying by a guy who was there and did that, and helped to bring Alaska aviation into the modern world.

A great read.

MTV