avcanada book club?

[Pavese]

Skunkworks, Ben R Rich, Leo Janos

Like the review says, a great story about the goings on in Lockeed's Skunkworks under Kelly Johnson.

http://www.amazon.ca/Skunk-Works-Ben-R- ... 0316743003

Lockheed's Advanced Development Project has set standards for the aerospace industry for half a century. Under its presiding genius, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, the Skunk Works produced America's first jet fighter, the world's most successful spy plane (U-2), the first three-times-the-speed-of-sound surveillance aircraft and the F-117A stealth fighter.

Rich was Johnson's right-hand man and succeeded him as director in 1975, retiring in 1990. In an entertaining style, the authors describe Johnson's tyrannical managerial style, his thorny but productive relationship with the Air Force and the stealth-technology breakthrough that revolutionized military aviation.

Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

[longjon]

Crosswinds by Michael Bellamy

1939. A Focke Wulf 200 carrying looted German treasure crashes in the Yukon and a modern day bush pilots locating it.

ISBN-10:ISBN 0-9782472-0-5
ISBN-13: ISBN 978-0-9782472-0-1

[seniorpumpkin]

Thanks everyone, sounds like some great suggestions!

What about the CARs .... ....
That'll keep you busy wayyyyy past the winter months, plus you may be "entertained" on what you may read

Ya I guess you could call them entertaining, I think it's the sort of reading you laugh at rather than laugh with! Although during my search I came across "CARs in plain english" does anyone have a review on this book? Is it even remotely current? Sounds too good to be true.

[sigmet77]

There are a couple books on the adventures of Jimmy "Midnight" Anderson that are a great read. Not too long and full of great stories. I know you can buy them along the Alaska highway but not sure if they are on Amazon or not.

[Hedley]

"CARs in plain english" does anyone have a review on this book?

Here's one for you:

Why would you buy this? The CARs are already available
for free on the internet at:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/regse ... s/menu.htm

The advantage of the free online CARs is that they are always
updated for you, which certainly isn't the case with printed
books. And remember, what used to be legal and safe
last week, might now be illegal and dangerous after a
rule change. And vice versa, of course.

Hardest thing about the CARs is navigating through
them. You are responsible for obeying every letter
of every word of every sentence of every paragraph
of thousands of CARs at every moment. The best
way to locate CARs is with a google site-specific
search, which I have mentioned over and over and
over and over again here.

[hazatude]

Derry Air by Garth Wallace

An account of a young instructor at Peninsulair in the '70's. Very funny stuff.

[Dash-Ate]

Derry Air by Garth Wallace

An account of a young instructor at Peninsulair in the '70's. Very funny stuff.

When's your book coming out haz.

[KnownIce]

Skunkworks, Ben R Rich, Leo Janos

Like the review says, a great story about the goings on in Lockeed's Skunkworks under Kelly Johnson.

http://www.amazon.ca/Skunk-Works-Ben-R- ... 0316743003

I'm reading this now and would second the recommendation.


Another book I would recommend somewhat tangentially to aviation (the first chapter moves right from balloons to near-space) is "Man in Flight: Biomedical Achievements in Aerospace" by E. Engle and A. Lott. Not at all technical in a medical sense and focusing more on the people involved in aerospace research, I think a lot of the engineer-types on AvCanada (declared or otherwise) would enjoy it.

[Pavese]

Derry Air by Garth Wallace

An account of a young instructor at Peninsulair in the '70's. Very funny stuff.

Seconded. He usually turns out one a year and it magically turns up under the Christmas tree.

D

[Conquest Driver]

"Sagittarius Rising" by Cecil Lewis. You'll likely have to special order it. WW I fighter pilot who went on to help found the BBC.

"Sled Driver" by Brian Shul.

[JEG]

I'll add a Third recommend for Skunk Works, it's a very interesting read. Also I would suggest "Ghosts of Targets Past" by Philip Grey, his personal accounts from flying Lancasters during WWII from initial training to the end of the war. Another good WWII book would be "Duel of Eagles" by Peter Townsend, about the Battle of Britain.

[Etienne]

"Stick and Rudder" by Wolfgang Langewische

It's quite technical, but a real "back to basics" book. Not knowing you, I'm not sure what your flying experience is, but I'd recommend this for any student pilot and fresh PPL. Also good for anyone who wants to learn how to fly better, and helps understand what the aircraft is actually doing when the monkey up front fiddles with the controls!

[duCapo]

The Pathless Way
Justin De goutire (spelling)
awesome book about flying the west coast in the 60s

[carholme]

There is an excellent book "From The Left Seat" which I read many years ago and will have to see if I can find more details. It is the early story of Midwest Airlines flying DC3s out of Chicago.

If anyone here has read it and knows where one could fiind a copy, please let us know.

Cat Driver: You have probably read it . and would remember the great line about the Christmas Eve flight when they were passing a PR about "Pissing over Pattsburg" or letting a handful of nuts and bolts roll down the incline much to the dismay of the passengers.

carholme

[duCapo]

The Left Seat was written by Robert Serling (Rod Serling "Twilight Zone"s brother) It is probablly one of the most entertaining out there. He wrote the "Electra Story" too

[duCapo]

For the rotorheads ther is one written by Robert Mason "Chickenhawk" excellent read about flying Hueys in Nam

[carholme]

DuCapo;

Many thanks, I also read the Electra story which was excellent.

carholme

[Airspeed-Alive]

Biplane, Richard Bach

It's about a pilot who trades in his modern fully loaded IFR plane (been too long, forget the actual aircraft) for an old biplane. Flies it back home across America. Great book!

[jspitfire]

I'll second Bushpilot with a breifcase and either of Jack Schofield's books.

I forget the exact title, but it was something like "the otter story", all about the DHC3, lots of interesting little facts and stories about that plane.

Reading Steve Fosset's Autobiography right now, Chasing the Wind - which I would also highly recommend.

[Pencil Driver]

Fate is the Hunter by Earnest K. Gann. Absolute must read.

Anyone who thinks they are masters of their own destiny will fine that the Grim Reaper picks and chooses at his bidding.

[viccoastdog]

'Ride On The Wind' by Sir Francis Chishester

He flew a De Havilland Gypsy Moth on floats from Sydney, Australia to Katsura, Japan in 1931. Really slow flying over open ocean, landing in the swells in the middle of the sea, chased by pirates on the water, drinking brandy with his lunch while flying(!?). A different time and a great read.

Thirty odd years later he was also the first person to sail solo (with one stop) around the world when he was already in his '60s.

I found my copy in an antique bookstore aloong with 'The Pathless Way'

[planett]

Another vote for "Fate is the Hunter" E.K. Gann.

also, "747 Creating the worlds first Jumbo Jet and other adventures from a life in aviation"
Joe Sutter.

Non aviation, "Cosmos" Carl Sagan.

DVD's? Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[Lurch]

Fate is the Hunter for sure

but when I need a good laugh it has to be "Ace McCool" by Jack Desmarais

[V2-OMG!]

The mystical muse of Antoine de St. Ex.
Slipping the Surly Bonds - Great Quotations on Flight by Dave English
Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck (great read about two teenage boys who restore a Piper Cub and fly across the U.S. in the 1960s).
Legend and Legacy - Boeing and It's People by Robert Serling. A definite pro-company book, and every Boeing employee received a copy after the book was released in 1992 ( I lucked out and the signed letter by CEO Frank Shrontz was still inside the one I picked up at the used bookstore) but Serling is always good for penning a historical tale.

[North Shore]

"Reach for the Sky" and "the Dam Busters", both by Paul Brickhill, got me into this game in the first place.
A 2nd for duCapo's "Chickenhawk" followed by its sequel:"Back to the World"

A great non-aviation read recently was called "The Golden Spruce" about a disillusioned wet coast logger who cut down a sacred spruce tree up in the Charlottes