Books that would have/would have changed your aviation experience

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Guston Garrison

Filing Flight Plan
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Hello! I'm a student pilot here that loves to sponge up knowledge of those that have come before me. I currently get a lot of drive time weekly and spend most of that time listening to audiobooks. I'm curious if anyone has any recommendations on a book that they have read pertaining to anything aviation that they just couldn't be without, or wish they would have read long ago. I'm a weirdo and I spend more time reading accident reports, just because I love the knowledge. Nothing better than a 40+ year pilot sharing that small piece of advice that is just another day to him, but could be life saving to someone like me.
 
In the early 1970’s, Steward Brand’s “The Whole Earth Catalog” was quite a phenomenon. It had a spread on flying:

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I bought and read “Stick and Rudder” and it launched my aviation career. I don’t know if it’s available on audiobook, but highly recommended regardless.
 
Look up and join a local EAA chapter. Then attend meetings and events. Best info comes from like minded people.
 
"Changing my aviation experience", as you put it...

In the Shadow of Eagles: From Barnstormer to Alaskan Bush Pilot, a Flier's Story

After reading, I sold my zippy little experimental and bought a tailwheel "bush plane".
 
First, welcome to PoA! This is a great resource; you just have to learn to filter out the noise. Always type as if your mother was looking over your left shoulder and your 13 y.o. daughter was looking over your right shoulder and you'll generally get treated respectfully and helpfully.

Second, to directly answer your question, The Right Stuff. I assume it is available on audio.

Third, somewhere on here there is a long thread about everyone's favorite aviation books. If you find that, it will give you lots of ideas. Two on the top of many people's list are Flight of Passage and Fate is the Hunter. Don't know if they are available on audio.
 
I read "stick & rudder" after I got my ppl, and immediately wished I had read it during training. I really think it would've shaved a couple hours off. It's that good.

"The killing zone" is another excellent book, but the perfect time for it is right after you pass your checkride.
 
Lots of good suggestions above, especially Stick & Rudder and Say Again, Please. I also recommend The Thinking Pilot's Flight Manual, both 1 and 2, by Rick Durden.

If you just want some feel-good entertainment, read Week-End Pilot by Frank K. Smith. It's old, but a fun read for the student pilot. Rod Machado's Plane Talk is also pretty good. And That's My Story by Douglas ("Wrong Way") Corrigan should not be missed.
 
+1 for Stick and Rudder. Richard Bach's Biplane, which I read while a teenager, was a major part of setting the direction of my flying for the next 45 years.
 
Jim K said:
I read "stick & rudder" after I got my ppl, and immediately wished I had read it during training. I really think it would've shaved a couple hours off. It's that good.

"The killing zone" is another excellent book, but the perfect time for it is right after you pass your checkride.
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I also endorse these two, as well as “The Naked Pilot” by David Beaty. If you like accident analysis you’ll love that one.
 
"Stick and Rudder" and Robert Buck's "Weather Flying." For the latter, get the latest edition, updated by his son.

For reading enjoyment, anything by Buck. "North Star Over My Shoulder" "The Art of Flying" "Flying Know-How" "The Pilot's Burden" are all on my shelf.
 
Wind, Sand, and Stars; Night Flight, and Flight to Arras by St. Exupery are my favorites. They’re published together under the title “Airman’s Odyssey.”

Fate is the Hunter by Ernest Gann is fantastic. Also, no airplane nerd’s bookshelf is complete without the EAA-published “Golden Age of Air Racing.”
 
Aviation books I couldn't live without? I can't think of any. I really didn't like stick and rudder. But there's an aviation related video I'd recommend. Ted talk by Mike Drowly (Drowley?) "There are some fates worth than death". Pretty good speech. Another, not aviation related is Jim Valvono's ESPY speech.

Fate is the Hunter is a good book as well.
 
Jim K said:
..."The killing zone" is another excellent book, but the perfect time for it is right after you pass your checkride.
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Gotta give a -1 for "the killing zone". The author's math has been proven to be seriously flawed, which then flaws his whole premise of a "killing zone". I would normally say that any book that you can learn from, and improve your flying, is a good one, but that guy is so completely full of crap it made reading it hard....
The book was good for one thing, as it did get a laugh out of my girlfriend: She cracked up when I threw it out the window while we were on a long drive!
 
tawood said:
Gotta give a -1 for "the killing zone". The author's math has been proven to be seriously flawed, which then flaws his whole premise of a "killing zone".
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I understand and agree with the criticism that the statistics are flawed. There are many more pilots with low hours, and those with high hours are usually flying 135/121. Both factors skew the accident rate towards lower hour pilots. Take the "killing zone" hour range part with a grain of salt.

That said, do you really disagree with the premise that the time shortly after the ppl is a dangerous time for pilots? I know I learned a LOT the hard way during that time. I'm still in "the killing zone", and still learning, but not at the rate I did during those first couple hundred hours.

The fact is that the "killing zone" never really ends. I would even argue that it might be more of a "killing bathtub" where risk drops as you gain experience and then climbs again as complacency becomes a factor.

What the book does very well is break down the most common causes of GA accidents. Backed up by real life accident reports, the author offers strategies to avoid making the same mistakes. The OP stated he gets value from reading accident reports, and I think he'd enjoy it.
 
Jim K said:
...That said, do you really disagree with the premise that the time shortly after the ppl is a dangerous time for pilots? I know I learned a LOT the hard way during that time. I'm still in "the killing zone", and still learning, but not at the rate I did during those first couple hundred hours.

The fact is that the "killing zone" never really ends. I would even argue that it might be more of a "killing bathtub" where risk drops as you gain experience and then climbs again as complacency becomes a factor.

What the book does very well is break down the most common causes of GA accidents. Backed up by real life accident reports, the author offers strategies to avoid making the same mistakes. The OP stated he gets value from reading accident reports, and I think he'd enjoy it.
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Yes, yes I do, and the "real" statistics seem to agree. There is very little difference in the rate of danger based upon pilot hours, it more about WHAT mistake or problem(s) kills the low hours vs high hour pilots that makes a difference.
 
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tawood said:
Yes, yes I do, and the "real" statistics seem to agree. There is very little difference in the rate of danger based upon pilot hours, it more about WHAT mistake or problem(s) kills the low hours vs high hour pilots that makes a difference.
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I did a study of the effect of pilot hours on common miscontrol accidents. Took a roughly equal sample size for low-time, mid-time, and high-time pilots.
_____________________|_40-100 Hours_|_1000-1150 hours_|_20K+ hours_|
_____Sample Size_____|______158_____|_______144_______|_____148____|
__Total Mishandling__|______81______|________53_______|_____45_____|
________Stall________|______22______|________12_______|______7_____|
________Winds________|______16______|________12_______|______6_____|
_Takeoff Directional_|_______5______|________2________|______2_____|
_Landing Directional_|_______5______|________15_______|_____19_____|
___Bad Flare/Bounce__|_______5______|________7________|______6_____|
__System Management__|_______7______|________7________|______2_____|
__Misjudged Approach_|_______0______|________5________|______2_____|

Curiously, the high-time pilots have a greater number of accidents due to loss of directional control on landing. These were mostly taildraggers.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Guston Garrison said:
Hello! I'm a student pilot here that loves to sponge up knowledge of those that have come before me. I currently get a lot of drive time weekly and spend most of that time listening to audiobooks. I'm curious if anyone has any recommendations on a book that they have read pertaining to anything aviation that they just couldn't be without, or wish they would have read long ago. I'm a weirdo and I spend more time reading accident reports, just because I love the knowledge. Nothing better than a 40+ year pilot sharing that small piece of advice that is just another day to him, but could be life saving to someone like me.
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Conquest of Lines and Symmetry. I have an original that stays on a shelf and two copies that I loan out. A must read for anyone who wants to do more than simply drive airplanes.

Sent from my LML212VL using Tapatalk
 
Song of The Sky by Guy Murchie (1954). Murchie was a private pilot and later a transoceanic navigator in WW2. He writes of history, navigation, weather, aerodynamics and the soul of flight, all with a poet's touch.
 
Lauran Paine's book The Flying Life is pretty good, though occassionally a bit over-sentimental. And of course no aviation bookshelf is complete without Unusual Attitudes by Martha Lunken, especially if you intend to fly under bridges someday.
 
FastEddieB said:
In the early 1970’s, Steward Brand’s “The Whole Earth Catalog” was quite a phenomenon. It had a spread on flying:

12528917405_98b61e20a4_z.jpg


I bought and read “Stick and Rudder” and it launched my aviation career. I don’t know if it’s available on audiobook, but highly recommended regardless.
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I have a 1970 copy of The Whole Earth Catalog. The cover has the subtitle "Access to tools".
 
All 3 volumes of “The Proficient pilot” by Barry Schiff
 
airdale said:
"Stick and Rudder" and Robert Buck's "Weather Flying." For the latter, get the latest edition, updated by his son.

For reading enjoyment, anything by Buck. "North Star Over My Shoulder" "The Art of Flying" "Flying Know-How" "The Pilot's Burden" are all on my shelf.
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You just listed book-by-book exactly what I was going to suggest. Reading any one of these will make you a better pilot guaranteed.
 
Going the other way, don't let any of your passengers read either "Alive!" or "Into Thin Air" before any winter trips.
 
I read Stick and Rudder before I even knew I was going to take a discovery flight or lessons. I was developing a curiosity for flying and trying to play a flying game on the xbox and I was curious if a book about real flying would help. It did, I ended up some months later taking a discovery flight and then lessons. My instructor did a slip on the disco flight and seemed a bit surprised when I asked him, 'Is this a slip?'. "why yes, it is!"

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I was a little fella in school when I read about a man flying from New York to Paris:

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I don't care much for Stick & Rudder. It is highly overrated. I gave mine away.
The best ones are always free. Check out FAR/AIM, PHAK, IFH, IPH.
 
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Jonathan Livingston Seagull, about a seagull who is trying to learn about life and flight. A New York Times number one best seller back in 1972.
 
sarangan said:
I don't care much for Stick & Rudder. It is highly overrated. I gave mine away.
The best ones are always free. Check out FAR/AIM, PHAK, IFH, IPH.
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FAR/AIM could have changed my aviation experience by turning me away! I needed a few spoons full of sugar to make that medicine go down!

(I did like the PHAK and Airplane Flying Handbook from the FAA though I'd consider those more along the lines of text books or required reading)
 
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