Good flying books?

Unbroken is excellent! Although only a portion is about aviation, think it was a B25 that got shot down, the remaining story is captivating. Hollywood made a good movie out of the book too. Amazing what this crewmember went through as a POW of the Japanese, and what he became after release from POW internment. Very inspirational. Almost couldn't put the book down, still read it occasionally.

Also the previously mentioned Ed Rasimus books about his time in flying F105s during his first tour in Vietnam, and F4s during his second tour in Vietnam. Both excellent reads.

When Thunder Rolled and Palace Cobra
 
mscard88 said:
Unbroken is excellent! Although only a portion is about aviation, think it was a B25 that got shot down, the remaining story is captivating. Hollywood made a good movie out of the book too. Amazing what this crewmember went through as a POW of the Japanese, and what he became after release from POW internment. Very inspirational. Almost couldn't put the book down, still read it occasionally.
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The airport at Torrance CA (KTOA) is named for Louis Zamperini.
 
If you want adventure involving GA (though a bit dated) try Robin White's books (I think there are four of them). If you want a piece of non-aviation spell binding NON FICTION try his book HOSTILE WATERS (It's listed as R. Allen White, long story).

If you want to spew your coffee all over the place laughing at inanely stupid aviation sequences by someone who actually is a pilot and should know better, and who is an arrogant prick when you suggest he might want a proofreader or do some basic research, try any of the Stone Barrington novels by Stuart Woods. Some of it, like his laughable plot lines around FLIGHTAWARE.COM tracking, I just chalk up to poetic license...you have to make some concessions for the story. However, his other gaffes like talking about WASHINGTON EXEC airport like it was some fancy metropolitan airport rather than the armpit it has been for decades, is just unbelievable. Just about everything he writes about the DC area is wrong. I can't vouch for his NY city stuff where his stuff is ostensibly based.

It's amazing how someone who owns and flies his own bizjet, can get so much wrong (though the stuff on the operation of the citation is pretty interesting I guess all his time at Flight Safety drilled that into his head).
 
The Thousand Mile War. Non-fiction about WWII in the Aleutians. It isn't strictly aviation but flight operations make up most of the content. Interesting read.
 
Stick and Rudder by Bernhard Langweische.

Probably not exactly the kind of "flying " book you had in mind, but probably the best book on actually how to fly a wing that I've read.
 
Nobody's mentioned "Skyfaring" by Mark VanHoenacker. It's a non-fiction account of a long-haul airline pilot. Part poetic, part nuts and bolts, part anecdotes, it's quite good.
 
North Star Over My Shoulder by Bob Buck
Flying the SR-71 Blackbird by Col Richard H Graham
Combat Crew: The Story of 25 Combat Missions Over Europe from the Daily Journal of a B-17 Gunner by John Comer

I second the recommendation of Fighter Pilot by Robin Olds
and Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck
 
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