Books that would have/would have changed your aviation experience

I guess I'll have to go back and re-read stick and rudder. I'm assuming its still on my shelf. I honestly have no memory of it...didn't stick in my mind as something special.

I read Aerodynamics For Naval Aviators a long time ago...appealed to the engineer in me....but not something to suggest....it's a text book, equations, aerodynamic theory.
I'm really struggling to think of a book to suggest for "student purposes". I've gotten tons of enjoyment from reading memoirs and autobiographies...mostly war time stuff. It all started when I heard Chuck Yeager and Bud Anderson speak at Airventure. Went out and bought Yeager.... then Bud's book To Fly and Fight... those lead to quite a big collection of mostly WW2 but also pretty much every period since...mostly military flyers.

You mentioned accident reports. I used to subscribe to a printed magazine, I think it was called Aviation Safety, something like that that was good...but I honestly found after a while that I didn't like focusing on that stuff too much. Sure you can learn from it, but it can get in your head like a bad movie.
I also used to subscribe to a little printed magazine once I started working on more advanced flying. IFR magazine....Used to be single color or maybe two color printing...a little stapled together thing that was very good. It's the best thing I can think of. I just searched and I'm happy to see its still around...although I have no idea if it's any good....
https://www.ifr-magazine.com/
maybe not great for a new-ish student though.... I'm not sure....

oh...there use to be a Flight Training magazine that was good student pilot level stuff. Is that still around.
 
I enjoyed Wager with the Wind. Can't say it changed my flying experience, as my flying is pretty far removed from Don Sheldon's exploits, but it was a good read.

I've got Absolutely Fearless cued up to read next. I confess, I haven't heard much about the book, but WWII Ace Raymond Littge was a relative, so the family has been passing it around.
 
Not recommending because it helped my flying, but ‘North Star over my Shoulder’ and‘Flight of Passage’ captured the essence of why I fly and continue to fly for 48 years as a cherished hobby that I can share with friends and family.
 
Wager with the wind came out in 1982. I wish I’d read that book, or one like in 1979 or so. I would’ve gone a whole different direction.
 
The 5 most influential/important aviation books for me would have to be:

30 Seconds Over Tokyo - Ted Lawson
I Could Never Be So Lucky Again - Jimmy Doolittle
Fate is the Hunter - Ernest Gann
A Hostage to Fortune - Ernest Gann
The Flying Guns - Clarence Dickinson
 
Brad W said:
oh...there use to be a Flight Training magazine that was good student pilot level stuff. Is that still around.
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I believe that one is through AOPA. They offer a free 6 month subscription to Flight Training magazine with a student membership(which is also free for the first 6 months).
 
Now just to be sure... are we talking books WITHOUT pictures? Asking for a friend...

anon
 
A Stranger to The Ground Nothing by Chance and Biplane All by Bach
 
bluerooster said:
A Stranger to The Ground Nothing by Chance and Biplane All by Bach
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Those three and Fearless Tower's 5 make for a great flying library.

I will add that Ron Wanttaja's "Kit Airplane Construction" was a good primer for starting down the homebuilt path.
 
Albany Tom said:
"There are some fates worth than death".
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Generally I don't like TED talks, but this one is different. What the colonel spoke is the truth, which any aviator of any service in combat direct support knows in their heart.
 
Back to books...this one was given to my father when he was a fifteen year old kid, circa 1930. Started his lifelong career.
IMG_2761.JPG
 
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