Ditto
“Tango Uniform” by Tom Wilson is an excellent fictional historical novel of USAF Thud drivers in Vietnam. I also think that “Flight of The Intruder” is just as good.
Going back, way back - Nevil Shute was an aeronautical engineer, worked on the British R-100 airship program, started his own aviation company in the 1920s, which was eventually sold to DeHavilland. He was also a pilot. Simultaneously he began a career as a novelist, writing several books in which aviation plays a partial or central role. He wrote up until his death in 1960. “The Rainbow and the Rose”, “Pastoral”, “Round the Bend” all concern aviation and pilots. His aviation masterpiece was “No Highway”, made into a movie with Jimmy Stewart. Maybe the only book in history in which the hero is a bookish aero engineer who gets the girl in the end. Highly recommended.
Dan H.
“The Blood Order” is the sequel to “The Blue Max” and not that bad. I would add the Douglas Bader bio “Reaching for the Sky” if you can find it. I just finished “The Wrong Stuff” by Truman Smith. He was an 8th AF pilot, great read on what it was really like to fly 35 missions. For a slightly diverting read with an aviation theme, “Where is Joe Merchant” or “A Salty Piece of Land” by Jimmy Buffet. Fun reads on a cold winter night. My all time favorite flying book, “The Cannibal Queen” I hid the keys to my C140 after finishing that one. Might also add “Flight over Water” I think that is the correct title. Great mystery on the Clipper flight from England to the US.
I also am an avid reader, so have a nice library of my own going on in the house. The majority is military evenly split between air and armor, and its hard to narrow it down to only a couple good books, but heres my choices. Wings of Fury is a good read, a compilation of individual stories in combat in the jet age. When Thunder Rolled, an F-105 pilots tour in Viet Nam. I Flew for the Fuhrer, starting with crash landing is a good attention gainer. The Blond Knight of Germany, not much needs to be said about a book based on the worlds greatest ace. Gunther Rall, shooting down and getting shot down on both main fronts, then rebuilding the German Air Force after WWII. JG26, Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, their reputation is easily understood by reading this book.
Yeager by Chuck Yeager, 30 seconds over toyko by ted lawson, battles with the luftwaffe by boiton & bowman are good choices. Non-fiction. Look in a squadron mail order catalog tons of books there. g.l.
I’m very much into WWII history and I can’t stand historical fiction, that Dual of Eagles is great, I highly recommend “Terror in the Starboard Seat”, Dave McIntosh was the navigator in a 418Sqd. Mosquito, read Douglas Bader’s “Reach for the Sky” and Adolf Galland’s “The First and the Last”, they have stories that cross over in the most interesting ways, it’s great to read the story from both sides, they became good friends after the war. “The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe” is a great book too, the subject’s probably obvious.
Targets of Opportunity (I think) is about a couple Navy pilots and one Marine pilot during Vietnam who end up flying a MiG-17 for the CIA. I don’t remember the author,but its one heck of a yarn.The Hartmann book is great,so is the one on JG 26. Honestly, most of the books listed (that I’ve read) are darn good. The others are too, no doubt; they were listed here.
I have to agree that Piece of Cake is one of the greatest novels about air war ever written. In addition to the human drama, it offers real insights about RAF tactics and the role of the Hurricane.
Though not a novel, I’d also have to recommend Rickenbacker’s memoir Fighting the Flying Circus. I read it when I was a boy and it’s what got me hooked on aviation. Loads of drama here.
Right now I’m reading Winged Victory by Yeates. So far it’s the best novel about WWI aviation that I’ve ever read.
Some more that come to mind.
- Anything by Martin Caidin
- Thud Ridge
- Cannibal Queen by Stephen Coontz
- Lest we forget
Martin Caidin is probably one of the most prolific aviation writers. He writes both fact and fiction. He wrote Samauri, the story of Saburo Sakae and Lightning, the story of the P-38. His fiction includes Marooned, about an astronaut stranded in space. The Duel, about a personal dog fight between an American P-38 ace and a Japanese ace. Thud Ridge is a true account of the air war in Viet Nam. Cannibal Queen is a true story by Stephen Coontz about a journey he took in a restored Stearman and the adventures he had going to different states on one long summer journey. Lest we forget is a good read on the helicopter air war in Viet Nam.
Sorry, I can’t remember the names of the authors on two of these, but I highly recommend them anyways.
no Jabbe that wasn’t the second book the second one was called Intruders and Grafton was still flying A-6’s the 3rd book is where he flys TomCats.
In chronological order, this is true. However, the second book, in publication order was Final Flight, in which he was flying Tomcats.
In order of publication, The Intruders was the sixth book to feature Jake Grafton.
The others have mentioned most of the books that come to mind. In particular “Reach for the Sky”, the autobiography of Douglas Bader is good (inspiring). Bader lost his legs in a crash that resulted from flying low-level aerobatics in a Gloster Gamecock before the Second World War. He was fitted with artificial legs but of course he was grounded. He badgered the brass at Fighter Command so much, they relented and let him fly again. He fought in the Battle of Britain, flying a Hawker Hurricane. He rose to the rank of Wing Commander, and as such was entitled to use his initials as the identifying letters on his aircraft. With “DB” on his aircraft, he was nicknamed “Dog’s Body”. He was shot down and parachuted to safety but his artificial legs were all bent out of shape so he badgered the brass in the Luftwaffe POW camp system so much, they relented and made arrangements for a new set of legs to be parachuted in for him! Quite a man.
Another hugely inspiring book is “The Dambusters” by Paul Brickhill. It tells the story of 617 Squadron (Bomber Command) and the development of the special dam busting bomb by Dr. Barnes Wallis. The Sqadron leader, Guy Gibson, received the Victoria Cross for his bravery.
An interesting book is “Wing Leader” the autobiography of James “Johnnie” Johnson. He was the highest scoring RAF pilot to survive the war (38 combat victories), and went on to achieve the rank of Air Vice-Marshall. He often flew as wingman to Douglas Bader before Bader was shot down. He was given command of 242 Squadron (Canada) flying Spitfires, and earned great respect from his pilots who awarded him a “Canada” shoulder flash which he wore (contrary to regulations).
Good books all. Happy reading
Thanks guys.
Joshua
Just a quick note…
Reach For The Sky, the biography of Douglas Bader has been mentioned a number of times in this discussion. It should be noted that this was not an autobiography, but a biography written by Paul Brickhill, who also authored The Great Escape and The Dam Busters.
I believe the aircraft he was flying when he crashed was actually a Bristol Bulldog.
Also, he was not shot down, but bailed out of his aircraft following a mid-air collision with another aircraft (believed to be a ME-109).
Not sure if you want “novels” or the “facts” - First Light is excellent (Geoffry Wellum) and of course so is Enemy Coast Ahead - Guy Gibson - Dam busters and all that - for WWI you cannot beat Winged Victory by V M Yeates - apparently this book was much sought after by crews in WWII. The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary is probably one of the best books ever. If you are at all sensitive it will get to you. Do enjoy - reading is good for you - and a blessed companion is a book.
I stand corrected. You are definately correct on the first point and I cannot argue with the second.
Here are two I really enjoyed:
BuffaloBuilder mentioned Tom Wilson. I read “Termite Hill”, which is an enjoyable tale centered around early Thud Wild Weasels squadrons in SEA. It’s a quick read, but still entertaining. Another one is "A Wing And A Prayer. Harry Crosby’s account of the B-17s of the Bloody 100th over Germany. Definitely a great read.
-O