Hey guys. As you may or may not know, I am an avid reader. I mostly read the realistic fiction of Tom Clancy. Recently, I picked up a book called Duel of Eagles, a book about the Battle of [Over] Brittain. I’d like to know if there are any other such books out there. I’d appreciate any input!!!
I highly recomend “Piece of Cake” I can’t remember the authors name right now, but it also involves the BOB.
Duel of Eagles is a good book. I also read John Glen’s biography, and I thought that was a good read. By far, hands down, the best avation book I’ve read is Charles Lindbergh’s “THe Spirit of St. Louis”. He tells the story of preparing and flying across the atlantic. I bought the book b/c it was cheap, but it turned out to be an awesome read. Awesome book.
Another good one, this time in the fiction section of the library, is “Flight of the Intruder” by Stephen Coontz. Very good read, I loved feeling like I was in the cockpit flying in a valley at 500 mph.
Joshua
Though it is somewhat far-fetched I’ve always enjoyed Day of the Cheetah by Dale Brown. Back in the early nineties a guy named Mark Berent wrote a series of books about an F-4 pilot in the Vietnam War that I really enjoyed. (Storm Flight, Rolling Thunder, Phantom Leader, Steel Tiger, and Eagle Station). Richard Herman has written several enjoyable books focusing on fighter ops. Try your local library.
Can’t go wrong with any of the Dale Brown or Stepehn Koontz books. Liek Joshua said, very good reads. The Flight of the Intruder book was better than the movie but still had some great flying shots in there.
RadMax8,
Derek Robinson wrote “Piece of Cake”…it’s a good one.
I’m currently reading “First Light” by Geoffrey Wellum…he was a 19 year old Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain…it contains much about his feelings and impressions, as well as a fair smattering of operational procedures - and what life was like at the time…very interesting.
I know it’s not about a “plane” as such (although rotors are “wings”)…but “Chickenhawk” by Robert Mason is probably the best book I’ve ever read concerning a pilot’s combat experiences - Mr. Mason flew Hueys in Nam…after reading that book you truly feel as if you could plant your butt in the pilots seat and actually fly a Huey…
Len Deighton’s “Goodbye, Mickey Mouse” was a fascinating bit of fiction about the 220th Fighter Group flying P-51’s out of a fictional airfield called Steeple Thaxted in Cambridgeshire … it has a huge amount of historical data that really makes the book come alive…very interesting.
There’s about a thousand other books out there that are worth a read…and all of them will take you away from cutting plastic…too many books, not enough time…or is that too many models, not enough time?
The best book I ever read is one of the oldest, “Black Thursday”. It is the story of the daylight raid on Schweinfert (sp) in Germany and it complete from the beginning to the end of the mission.
For the airwar over Viet Nam try “Naked in DaNang” by Mike Jackson.
Bat 21 is a good movie if you like the Bird dog.
Dale Webber is a great author; Defcon One, Shadow Flight, Rules of Engagement, Dancing with the Dragon, Honorable Enemies, Primary Target, Assured Response are his books. Greatly detailed flying scenes and non stop action. Great reading. Michael Chriton’s Airframe is cool.
Try “Flyboys” by James Bradley. It’s not about airplanes, but it’s a true story about nine Naval and Marine aviators who were shot down in attacks on the Pacific island of Chichi Jima, not far from Iwo Jima, and their fates after they were shot down. One of the Pilots was George H.W. Bush. This is a great book and you’ll learn some stuff about the Pacific air war you probably never heard before.
James Bradley also wrote the bestseller “Flags of our Fathers,” the story of the six Marines who raised the flag over Iwo Jima. His father was one of them.
There was the Wingman series, set in a near future USA that had been devastated by war. It was an ok pulp fiction series. Reminds me of a future setting Sky Captain.
Steve
Fly for Your Life by Larry Forrester [tup][tup]
Radmax8, Try "The men and the boys who flew B-24’s over Germany"by Stephen Ambrose.
I loved Flight of the Intruder! I really liked the way you were flying as soon as you opened the book! I tried the second book (don’t rember the title) and it was ok, Jake Graffton is flying an F-14. It seems like it had less action writing than Flight of the Intruder.
Some good choices, but, I highly recommend “Cuckoo over Vienna” by Claude Porter. You might have to have your library get it. Claude flew a B-24 in a Polesti raid and was shot down by flak.
Most of the story is about how he and some of his crew survivied, and not aviation per say but still a great read.
“North SAR” by Gerry Carroll is a good Rescue helo story from Vietnam.
Dale Brown is okay but he didn’t do his research on the US Coast Guard for HAMMERHEADS, but then neither do any of the authors when they try to get the USCG right.
Don
The novel “The Blue Max” is outstanding, a bit different from the movie.
Cheers,
Eric
I just finished Black Aces High by Robert Wilcox. It’s about VF-41 during the Bosnian campaign, great reading. Also all the Punk’s War books a great too. Ward Carol is a former F-14 driver.
The Wingman series was by Mack Maloney, 14 books about Major Hawk Hunter, a former T-birds pilot (hence the name). Taking place after WWIII, it covered the reclaiming of a split America in the air. The first ones were pretty good, but the later books got a little “out there”. You can find them at your local thrift store. Lots of good flying scenes if you can forgo the setting.
Mike
“To Fly and Fight” by Clarence “Bud” Anderson was great-- he was the one who flew Old Crow…
I also though one of the best reads about a B-17 and what they went through was excellent-- Those Who Fall-A Bomber Pilot’s War Recalled-- written by John Muirhead.