Five Great Books You Have Probably Never Heard of, for when the Weather Turns Nasty.

Okinawa has felt the effect of six typhoons so far this season with another brewing down by the Philippines right now. This works out to a typhoon roughly every two weeks. Generally I am required to evacuate aircraft to a far off place while my family is left behind to weather out the storm. Twice this year however, I have been required to stay behind. 

The winds gradually pick up and the skies grow darker and darker. When the humming winds develop into a full blown freight train attempting to drive through the front window, television goes out and the loss of power is right around the corner.

I have found this is a great time to curl up on the couch, throw in some headphones and dive into a great aviation book.

Gann, Saint-Exupery and some of the other authors known famously for their aviation yarns have been in my library for years and they are great to reread from time to time. I am always searching for new good books about aviation. Recently, I have found some great ones and I have found some not so great ones. Here are a few I have recently come across that I could not put down.

        First Light by Geoffrey Wellum. This is an autobiography of a British Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain. His ability to describe the actions during combat and his feelings and inspirations during flight is amazing. It is a must read for anyone who enjoys historic aviation stories. Available in both print and E-book.

     Taildragger Tales by Daniel Ford. Daniel Ford did not begin flying until later in life and he tells his stories flying a J-3 Cub he rented from the local flying club. The book is only 35 pages and is a good, quick read available as an E-book on Amazon.com.

The Cannibal Queen by Stephen Coonts. This popular author is probably known best for his fictional work “Flight of the Intruder” as well as other fictional works about spying, espionage and deception. He wrote this book in 1991 about flying his 1942 Stearman named Cannibal Queen across the country and back. Coonts’ has the rare ability to actually put the reader in the cockpit as he tells his stories and makes this a great book to read. Only available in print. I have yet to see an E-book available.

Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck. This is an account of a teenage boy coming of age and learning to deal with his overbearing father, a former barnstormer. Buck struggles to understand his father and their relationship while setting out across the United States in a Cub he and his brother refinished in their barn over a winter. I have to admit I have read this book several times and it is a must read if you have ever dreamed of leaving home and flying across the country!

North Star Over My Shoulder by Bob Buck. Starting his flying career in the era of barnstorming, Buck tells his experiences working as an airline pilot from the birth of the airline industry through the introduction of the Boeing 747. Buck has countless stories of flying everything from B-17s to 707s. If you want to see how the airline industry came to be what it is today, this is a great look through the eyes of someone who was right in the middle of it. Available in both print and E-book.  

What other great aviation books have been left off the list? Please feel free to leave a comment and share. 

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