Fubar512 1,350 Posted August 14, 2009 I may push to have this made into a sticky. Basically, the intent of this thread, is to encourage our members to share their recomendations for aviation-related reading material. I'll start out with a small list, all of which I heartily recommend: Non-fiction: Vietnam Above The Treetops, by John F Flanagan: Review at Amazon.com When Thunder Rolled, by Ed Rasimus: Review at Amazon.com Palace Cobra: A Fighter Pilot in the Vietnam Air War, by Ed Rasimus: Review at Amazon.com Scream of Eagles: The Dramatic Account of the U.S. Navy's Top Gun Fighter Pilots and How They Took Back the Skies Over Vietnam: by Robert K. Wilcox: Review at Amazon.com Fulcrum: A Top Gun Pilot's Escape From the Soviet Empire, by Alexander Zuyev: Review at Amazon.com Fiction: ROLLING THUNDER\STEEL TIGER\PHANTOM LEADER\EAGLE STATION, All by Mark Berent: Review at Amazon.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted August 17, 2009 On the fiction side, I love the old Clancy novels. Red Storm Rising has some great air combat sequences, along with naval and ground. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Dave 2,318 Posted August 17, 2009 Termite Hill by Tom Wilson Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DWCAce 19 Posted August 17, 2009 I move that we split this between GA and mil aviation...and then possibly down to non/fiction Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Derk 265 Posted August 17, 2009 Robert Prest: "F4 Phantom" Pilot life in the RAF Phantom scene Hou doe, Derk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brian79 0 Posted September 2, 2009 Does anyone here subscribe to International Air power Review? When the hell are they going to get a new website? Are they still even publishing? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DWCAce 19 Posted September 2, 2009 I pick one up every now and then. I'm pretty sure they still publish once a quarter. As far as a website, check for Ian Allen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted September 2, 2009 I have a subscription, but apparently it's a very small company and the guy running it ran into some hard times (divorce among other things) that have seriously delayed his schedule. I forget when I got my last one, but it's been awhile. I'm still waiting to see what happens with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stingray77 4 Posted September 16, 2009 Phantom Reflections, Mike Mc Carthy (Combat Flying Vietnam - memoirs) Cheating Death, George J Marrett (Combat Air Rescues Vietnam and Laos - memoirs) Vietnam Air War Debrief, Robert F Dorr / Chris Bishop (colorful compilation of history and aircraft used in Vietnam) the other side: MiGs over North Vietnam, Roger Boniface (North Vietnam's People's Air Force in Combat) all non-fiction - all GREAT! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Platinum Rogue 48 Posted September 20, 2009 +1 for Termite Hill. Who remembers Lou Drendel's 'THUD!' I had that and several others by him, sadly they weren't made child-proof :( I too have Vietnam Air War Debrief. Also worth a look by Dorr is 'Air War Hanoi' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macelena 1,070 Posted September 20, 2009 Anyone knows "Goshawk Squadron", by Derek Robinson? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fubar512 1,350 Posted November 27, 2009 While not strictly aviation-oriented, I recommend "The Raft", by Robert Trumbull. It's based on a true story : http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/getdoc/b359a789-6374-4ab1-8571-20394b70cfc0/Von-Tempsky-Wall--Page-1-(1).aspx Imagine finding yourself on a 8 x 4 foot raft, in the middle of the South Pacific, with no food nor water, and surviving for 34 days with little more than a knife, a .45 pistol, a pair of pliers, and the clothes on your back! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stratos 3,167 Posted December 8, 2009 Can anyone please recommend a good or better yet, the best F-105 Thunderchief boof in town? Something that teach you the design, variants and missions flown by the mighty beast. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xclusiv8 35 Posted December 30, 2009 Does anyone know if there are any free stories/ebooks about pilots from the Cold war?? Thanx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DWCAce 19 Posted December 30, 2009 You may want to check around the USAF history site. I've seen a bunch of free stuff from there. Just finished reading 'Contrails Over The Mojave' by George Marrett. It covers his experiences as a test pilot @ Edwards AFB during the golden age of flight testing there. http://www.amazon.com/Contrails-Over-Mojave-Testing-Edwards/dp/1591145112 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lexx_Luthor 57 Posted December 31, 2009 xclusiv8:: Does anyone know if there are any free stories/ebooks about pilots from the Cold war?? Thanx Google is your Friend. A good xampel is F-86 page here, thousands of pilot stories... ~> http://sabre-pilots.org/classics.htm Very different is CRISIS IN TAIWAN, F-86Dora flying between Formosa and China, picking up MiGs on radar. ~> http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v152taiwan.htm Also, OVERFLIGHT, recon over USSR ~> http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v112over.htm Just found this one, so I gotta go :bye: F-93 ~> http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v101yf93.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Derk 265 Posted December 31, 2009 (edited) Does anyone know if there are any free stories/ebooks about pilots from the Cold war?? Thanx See my post of August 17th: Robert Prest "F4 Phantom" .... It's not free but rather old so it shouldn't be too expensive Hou doe, Derk Edited December 31, 2009 by Derk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Gocad 26 Posted February 14, 2010 One of my favorite books is "On Yankee Station" by John B. Nichols and Barrett Tillman. Too bad that it seems to be out of print now, but it's good overview on the air operations conducted during the Vietnam War (from the US Navy perspective, of course). You may also notice that Nichols was flying the Crusader (and bagged a MiG with it) pretty much until the end of the war, but I can live with that. Guess I got lucky when I got it over a year ago, as it now seems to be out of print....like a few other of Tillman's books. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ssgtshady 0 Posted March 31, 2010 One of my favorite books is "On Yankee Station" by John B. Nichols and Barrett Tillman. Too bad that it seems to be out of print now, but it's good overview on the air operations conducted during the Vietnam War (from the US Navy perspective, of course). You may also notice that Nichols was flying the Crusader (and bagged a MiG with it) pretty much until the end of the war, but I can live with that. Guess I got lucky when I got it over a year ago, as it now seems to be out of print....like a few other of Tillman's books. Theres a book out there that I read when i was in Iraq. I dont remember the name of it any more(lol), but it was about a retired pilot who goes to Saudi Arabia to teach an elite group of pilots who will be flying a squadron of F-20's -- Does anyone know what book im talking about? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Crusader 2,050 Posted May 6, 2010 Theres a book out there that I read when i was in Iraq. I dont remember the name of it any more(lol), but it was about a retired pilot who goes to Saudi Arabia to teach an elite group of pilots who will be flying a squadron of F-20's -- Does anyone know what book im talking about? Hello, "Warriors" http://www.btillman.com/warriors.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stingray72 6 Posted May 27, 2010 Hi all! I have read "a few" books in my day, and there are about half a dozen that I can think of that I really remember well. Non-fiction: "Scream of Eagles", which was posted already , but man is that book crazy! I probably have three or four posts on here somewhere hollerin' about that book!! "Low Level Hell" by Hugh Mills, auto-bi, he was a LOACH pilot in Vietnam at 19, flew a jillion missions and lost 4 helo's total. His 5th is on display at FT Rucker. He flew with the 1st of the 9th, 1st Air Cav. Pretty serious and intense book. "Rupert Red Two" by Jack Broughton. It's about his experiences before Vietnam, like flying Jugs over Europe! "Chicken Hawk" by Robert Mason, it's about him flying helo's in Vietnam. He flew CH-46's. Fiction: "Flight of the Intruder" and "Intruders", one we all know I think, the other is about Grafton punching some mouthy hippie out and getting sent to teach a bunch of Marines to fly the A-6 in peacetime. Pretty cool book. "The Wild Blue: A Novel of the USAF" by Walter J. Boyne, a famous history author. It follows four pilots and an enlisted guy through their careers, and their wives included. Pretty cool book, covering a lot of actually history while telling a real cool story. One pilot is just a good old boy with superior skills, one is a crazy @ss with great skill, one is a ring knocking West Pointer with alright skills but superior political connections, and the last is a black navigator turned pilot trying to make it in the white man's USAF. The book covers from Korea to post Vietnam, has smart bombs, helping the Israelis, a race riot, just an unbelievable book. Surprisingly enough it is a fast read and does not bore you, well me anyways, one little bit. By far one of the most captivating fiction works on aviation I have ever read. Here's a review and overview: http://www.whiteoakbooks.com/305/Review.aspx "The Expendables" by Leonard B. Scott. It's a ground pounder book, sorry :( Never the less, superb awesome book about 5 guys in the 1st Air Cav fighting in the Ia Drang in 1964. ~Stingray Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MigBuster 2,861 Posted May 29, 2010 Non Fiction This one is a truly fantastic - read "Loud and Clear - The Memoirs of an Israeli Fighter Pilot" - by Iftach Spector - their second highest ace of all time - such an interesting life Its very recent 2008/2009. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Loud-Clear-Yiftach-Spector/dp/076033630X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275137430&sr=1-1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Major Lee 18 Posted August 1, 2010 I would second "Rupert Red Two", by Jack Broughton... P-47s to the Thunderbirds... "Hell Hawks: the Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht" by Door and Jones, about the 365th FG... "Boyd: the Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War", by Robert Coram... Just get a copy and read it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mdatelmi 124 Posted August 21, 2010 (edited) I found these books very interesting and vivid... "First In, Last Out: Stories by the Wild Weasels - First person stories by Wild Weasel pilots, EWOs and their associates" - The Society of Wild Weasels - Edited by Col. Edwards T. Rock, USAF (Ret.) "Flying Black Ponies" - Kit Lavell - Naval Institute Press "Bury Us Upside Down - The MISTY pilots and the secret battle for the Ho Chi Minh trail" - Rick Newman and Don Shepperd - Ballantine Books "Magnum! - The Wild Weasels in Desert Storm" - Brick Eisel and Jim Schreiner - Pen & Sword "Strike Eagle - Flying the F-15E in the Gulf War" - William L. Smallwood - Potomac Books and now I'm reading, from the same author, "Warthog - Flying the A-10 in the Gulf War". Edited August 21, 2010 by mdatelmi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael82 0 Posted September 6, 2010 I would like to see more books on fighter performance topic. I read "Fighter Performance in Practice: Phantom vs MiG-21" from eBay and I hope to see more similar papers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
