I was asked today "what's the best book for my 14 year old son that wants to be a pilot?" I didn't have a good answer, I remember some of the study books being pretty dry and I'm not sure I would have read them if I wasn't flying at the same time.

Books from this guy: http://www.rodmachado.com/

I was given a copy of Stick and Rudder, by Wolfgang Langewiesche, when I was learning. It's a classic.

Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forrester. No flyin' but great books. s.

You might want to try "Flight of Passage: A Memoir" by Rinker Buck. It is the true story of two early teenage age brothers that rebuild a J3 Cub and then fly it from Pennsylvania to California. It is really about their cutting their strings from their overbearing flying father, but it is a good read and filled with flying adventure that a young person can identify with.

Anything by Guy Murchie or Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

courierguy wrote:Anything by Guy Murchie or Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Great minds think alike!!!!! Night Flight would be near the top of that list.

CloudDancer's fine literary works would do well, as would some of Gordon Baxter's old articles. If he has any interest in Alaska aviation steer him towards Bud Helmerick's, "Last of the Bush Pilots." That single book is what led me North.

Gump

Nizina wrote:You might want to try "Flight of Passage: A Memoir" by Rinker Buck.

I second this recommendation! Any 14 year-old aspiring pilot would relate to this story.

2nd the CloudDancer books, for an aspiring pilot Vol 1&2 anyway.

The Alaskan Bush Pilot Chronicles

Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation (thousands of planes, designs, statistics & history)

Maule M7 POH

Thanks everyone, I'll pass on your recommendations. I might get a couple for myself.

geekxx wrote:

Nizina wrote:You might want to try "Flight of Passage: A Memoir" by Rinker Buck.

I second this recommendation! Any 14 year-old aspiring pilot would relate to this story.

I'lll THIRD this recommendation, good book. I read it in high school when I was learning to fly. It's the first book I ever truly enjoyed reading.

Those are all great recommendations........I think Wager with the Wind about Don Sheldon would hold a 14 yr old's attention as well.

I know this is not a bush flying book, but I though Voyager was an awesome read. I enjoyed reading about their dream and all the difficulties they had getting to that point. I am an enginerd which might explain why I liked it so much. Not very useful for actually flying, but definitely good at getting the imagination going.

-kneel

I also second the recommendation for "The Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles"; it's a great read. Mort Mason also wrote another book called "Flying The Alaska Wild" that's also very good.

Another suggestion would be "The Long Way Home" by Ed Dover. It's the story of a Pan Am Boeing Clipper that was en route from Honolulu to Auckland when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Once they landed at Auckland, they were ordered by Pan Am to fly the Clipper all the way back to New York without maps, wx and under radio silence. It was considered to be the first around the world flight by a large commercial
airliner until the advent of jetliners.

Alan

I didn't know this many pilots even knew how to read!

Richard Bach's early books are great: Stranger to the Ground, Biplane, Nothing by Chance, A Gift of Wings

Antione de Saint-Exupery's books are also outstanding: Night Flight, Flight to Arras, Wind Sand & Stars

Ernest K. Gann's "Fate is the Hunter" pretty much sets the standard for aviation books.

Lots of good bush pilot biographies out there. Wager with the Wind is great, Frank Barr's biography is also good (the guy whittled his own prop and flew home after a wind storm flipped his plane over), I also recommend Noel Wien's book.

I've read plenty of war aviation books but the ones that stand out at the moment are Wrecking Havoc: A year in the A-20, Sagittarius Rising, and Adak. There are a few others I can't recall the titles of.

Last two. Mariana Gosnell's Zero Three Bravo is about her flying around the country in her Luscombe, great read. And True North by George Erickson is about a trip around Canada and Alaska in a PA-11, pretty much my dream trip.

x2 on Fate is the Hunter. As a young man interested in aviation, Ernie Gann really captured the combination of adventure and responsibility for me.

How about Bob Hover's book "Forever Flying". : There's nobody better then him.

Rick

All I wanted to read when I was 14 was a Penthouse magazine, even though I did want to be a pilot.