Archive for Items Categorized 'Aviation', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Flying and Preserving Historic Aircraft, The Memoirs of David Ogilvy

by David Ogilvy

Can’t tell roll from bank? Ever put a fuel-soaked rag into your carb intake to encourage combustion? Ever piloted a 1910 triplane, or the first British jet? Ogilvy’s highly polished prose will transport you into the cockpit.

Airway to the East 1918–1920 and the Collapse of No.1 Aerial Route RAF

by Clive Semple

The Arab-Israeli conflict is in the news every day. This book revisits a story related to it but buried since 1919 and deals with early long-distance flying in general.

Go Fast or Go Home: The Garth Hogan Story

by Tim Hanna

Dragster racer, record holder, FIA commissioner, founder of multiple businesses, pilot, restorer, museum founder—just reading this list makes you wonder if the differences in cyclonic motion in the hemispheres affects how time flies on Zealandia.

The White Rose of Stalingrad

by Bill Yenne

In WWII, only the Soviets had female active duty combat pilots. In fact, they had three all-female squads. Two of their pilots became aces. The long-suppressed and forgotten story of one of them is told here.

Battle of Britain The Movie: The Men and Machines of one of the Greatest War Films Ever Made

by Robert J. Rudhall & Dilip Sarkar

You may not have seen the original 1969 movie but outtakes from it found their way into more than a dozen movies between 1971 and 2010. This book explains why and how the movie was made, with special emphasis on the aircraft used.

From the Pilot’s Seat, Kiwi Adventures in the Sky

by Fletcher McKenzie

From Dambusters to Richard Branson’s private pilot, 23 Kiwi pilots from different eras who have worked around the world share reminiscences.

Military Low-Flying in the UK: The Skill of Pilots and Photographers

by Michael Leek 

Look at the cover photo and consider that it was taken from the ground, not from a higher-flying plane! This book shows how it’s done.

Dornier Do 335 Pfeil/Arrow

by J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek

Fast the Arrow was but it never flew in combat. It made its greatest contribution to aviation during post-WWII testing by the Allies, aided by the German experts who had originally built it. From origins to “what if” studies, this book has it.

The Handley Page Victor: The History & Development of a Classic Jet, Vol. 1

by Roger R. Brooks

This two-volume Data File covers the 86 Cold War-era Victors produced to carry their nuclear payload higher, faster, and further than any other plane.

Comet! The World’s First Jet Airliner


by Graham M. Simons

The exclamation point isn’t really part of the plane’s name but it might as well have been. Sleek and beautiful, it ushered in a new era but paid a heavy prize for blazing the trail. The book covers everything worth knowing about it.

Eastern Air Lines: A History, 1926–1991

by David Lee Russell

Once upon a time Eastern was the most profitable airline in the postwar era. It became Walt Disney World’s official airline. Then: strikes, fuel crisis, deregulation, management shake-ups—bankruptcy.

SR-71 Blackbird: Lockheed’s Ultimate Spy Plane

by David Doyle

Do a literature search and you’d think the Blackbird must be hot stuff: every year more is being published about it but the thing retired long ago. Just about all those books play nicely with this one because it has something the others don’t.