I came across these books over the years from many sources, such as tips from friends, reviews in flying magazines, browsing endless bookstores, "people who bought x also bought y" recommendations on Amazon, other tips on the internet and so forth. I ran into some duds as well and I will spare you these. These are just the "best of the best" in their genre (in my humble opinion) - each one of them a page turner! I intentionally won't rank them, as they are too multi-facetted to be entirely comparable. It just wouldn't be fair to their authors.
I am sure there are lots of other great aviation books, so if I am missing one that you love, by all means drop me a note! For now - in my mind - the below are the "must reads" for every aviation geek I have come across so far.
So without much further ado, here's the list:
Jan's favorite aviation books
- Eric "Winkle" Brown - Wings on My Sleeve: The World's Greatest Test Pilot tells his story
The autobiographical story of one of the greatest pilots of all time. He flew more than 400 types, had too many close calls to mention and hence this book is packed with great stories. Others would have written entire books about what for him is a half page in many instances. To mention just a few: his flight with Ernst Udet in a Jungmann, including an inverted approach and half roll just before touchdown; his test flying legendary aircraft like the Me-262 and Me-163; his carrier landing trials with all kinds of aircraft; and so forth... - Robin Olds - Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
Great book describing the flying career of General Robin Olds, from his day as a WWII fighter pilot all the way to his command (and active flying) of a fighter wing in Vietnam, flying Phantoms. Although the book was not completely written by Olds himself (but rather put together from notes by his daughter and Ed Rasimus), it has a distinctive "first person" feel to it - and it is a most riveting ride! - Neil Williams - Airborne
A most amazing collection of flying stories from Neil Williams fantastic flying career. Lots and lots of hair raising anecdotes, from flying WWI fighters in film productions through ferrying a Heinkel He111 "by the operating manual" to his legendary inflight breakup in an overstressed Zlin, recovered through negative G brought on by inverted flying and then crash-landing with a last-second half roll...all told in the most humble and matter of fact tone. - Bob Hoover - Forever Flying
The autobiography of probably one of the most skilled aviators of all time. Hoover tells the story of his flying in WWII, including dramatic scenes of escape from a PoW camp, stealing a German fighter plane and crash landing it in the Netherlands. He also describes in detail his test flying, together with other legends such as Chuck Yeager, and later his time as a demonstration pilot with Rockwell - including his amazing displays in the Shrike Commander and the P51. Another amazing page turner. - Chuck Yeager - Yeager: An Autobiography
(description to come) - Ernest Gann - Fate is the Hunter: A Pilot's Memoir
(description to come) - Ernest Gann - A Hostage to Fortune
(description to come) - Stephen Coonts - The Cannibal Queen
(description to come) - Rayomnd F. Toliver and Trevor J. Constable - The Blond Knight of Germany
- Richard Pike - The Lightning Boys: True Tales from Pilots of the English Electric Lightning
- William Kershner - Logging Flight Time: and Other Aviation Truths, Near-Truths, and More Than a Few Rumors That Could Never Be Traced to Their Sources
- Rolf Stünkel - Mach 2: Meine Jahre im Cockpit des Starfighters (in German)
- (description to come)
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