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

L.A. Birdmen, West Coast Aviators and the First Airshow in America

by Richard J. Goodrich

This small book could have had any number of titles. The story really begins in San Francisco, and years before the 1910 L.A. Meet. The Wright Bros mainly come off as obstructionists. From pilots to makers to business groups, conflict abounds. Happy reading.

Rising Ground and No Room to Turn, A Biography 

by Vivien Eyers

When you design, build, and fly your own aircraft—especially if they were never certified—you’ll have some stories to tell. While the protagonist really had no inclination to do that he left enough material behind for his sister to give it a whirl.

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.

The Trans-Atlantic Pioneers

by Bruce Hales-Dutton

2019 marked the centenary of the first nonstop transatlantic flight. You’d think the world would be awash in books about that—but it’s not! Good thing this is a fine book, albeit bland.

Trailblazer in Flight, Britain’s First Female Jet Airline Captain

by Yvonne Pope Sintes

“Airworthiness” of a different kind is the topic here: can—should—a woman be at the helm of a commercial airliner? You’ll shudder at some of the reactions in her time (1950s), and then you’ll shudder some more because glass ceilings are still very real today.

Tupolev Tu144: The Soviet Supersonic Airliner

by Yefim Gordon, Dmitriy Komissarov, Vladimir Rigmant

This icon of Soviet national prestige did take to the skies before the Concorde but ended up having a much shorter service life. Of the few publications devoted specifically to this aircraft, this book is the most complete yet.

Transatlantic Airships: An Illustrated History

by John Christopher

From luxuriously appointed people-hauling “pond hoppers” that actually flew, to proposed atomic-powered leviathans replete with helipads this book takes a look at how to cross vast distances.

Balloonomania Belles: Daredevil Divas Who First Took to the Sky

by Sharon Wright

“Balloon influenza.” (Gesundheit) Women parachuting out of balloons, dangling from ropes beneath it or sitting on a trapeze, calmly reading a (car!) magazine while sailing through a rainstorm? Prepare to be surprised.

British Private Aircraft

by Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume

This book and its sister volume may look unassuming but they are nothing of the sort. They are also so well written that anyone with an ear for language will find them enriching.

Dornier Do X: The Story of Claude Dornier’s Legendary Flying Boat

by Volker A. Behr

It was the biggest aircraft of its day but only three were built. It took twelve years to design—and less than half that time to withdraw them from service. What happened?

Dirty Work

by Richard Vaux with Brad Kuhn

June, 1985. Cairo to San Diego. You probably remember hearing on the news that the plane was hijacked. There are even two movies—but until you read this book, you have no idea what really happened.

Olympic Airways: A History

by Graham Simons

From weather to political leanings there’s a reason Greece was a factor in the plans of the early civil aviation schemers, and in short order the Greeks stood up a national airline of their own. It struggled then and it struggles today, and this book explains why.

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