Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Yeager: An Autobiography

by Chuck Yeager, Leo Janos

Chuck Yeager tells his whole life story, from childhood with a hard working father, to breaking the sound barrier, to being a test pilot with the "right stuff".

Recipient of the Grand Prix of the Académie Française, Wind, Sand and Stars captures the grandeur, danger, and isolation of flight. Its exciting account of air adventure, combined with lyrical prose and the spirit of a philosopher, makes it one of the most popular works ever written about flying. Translated by Lewis Galantière.

Fate is the Hunter

by Ernest Kellogg Gann

"This book is an episodic log of some of the more memorable of (the author's) nearly 10,000 hours aloft in peace and in war. It is also an attempt to define by example his belief in the phenomenon of luck-- that the pattern of anyone's fate is only partly contrived by the individual."--The New Yorker.

Biplane

by Richard Bach

In a sublime journey toward understanding time and space, Richard Bach takes flight through American skies in a 1929 biplane. Soaring from New Jersey to California, he learns to navigate by following railroads and highways, masters the dangers of thunderstorms, and tastes the exhilaration of flyingeet above the ground. Biplane describes a magnificent personal quest.

The Flying NorthJean Potter

The Flying North

by Jean Potter

Every air-minded reader will find this packed with excitement, adventure, heroism and humor - the thrilling story of the bush fliers in Alaska. They are personages, most popular and distinguished men in the Territory. They fly cannery workers, mining prospectors, corpses, mental cases, pregnant women (some have had babies in the air). They transport everything from mining equipment to hair pins. Here are stories... (more)

Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (Schiffer Military History)

Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (Schiffer Military History)

by Paul T. Gillcrist

Paul Gillcrist was a navy carrier pilot for almost thirty years, from the early days, of flying propeller planes from straight deck carriers, to the days of high-tech, lethal ""teen"" jets and supercarriers. In his remarkable career - from ""nugget"", to comp

Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11

Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11

by Lynn Spencer

On the azure blue morning of 9/11 the skies were pronounced "severe clear," in the parlance of airline pilots; a gorgeous day for flying. Nearly 5,000 flights were cruising the skies over America when FAA Operations Manager Ben Sliney arrived at the Command Center for his first day on that job. He could never have anticipated the historic drama that was about to unfold as Americans who found themselves on the... (more)

Spitfires, Thunderbolts, and Warm Beer: An American Fighter Pilot Over Europe (The Warriors)

Spitfires, Thunderbolts, and Warm Beer: An American Fighter Pilot Over Europe (The Warriors)

by Philip D. Caine

In 1941, before America entered World War II, determined young LeRoy Gover signed on with Britain’s Royal Air Force to fly the plane of his dreams, the fast, sleek Spitfire. When America joined the fight, he transitioned to the powerful P-47 Thunderbolt. Former USAF pilot and aviation historian Philip D. Caine has skillfully selected from the young flyer’s letters and diary entries to create a vivid portrait of... (more)

Chickenhawk

by Robert Mason

More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold since it was first published in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war in Vietnam. This is Robert Mason’s astounding personal story of men at war. A veteran of more than one thousand combat... (more)

When the Airlines Went to War

by Robert J. Serling

From one of America's most honored aviation authors comes a must-read book for aviation fans and World War II history buffs alike. Serling offers the dramatic chronicle of the glory days of the propeller plane, telling the story of the airline pioneers and pilots, mechanics and engineers, who became key players in momentous military engagements from the European theater to the Pacific. of photos.

Cessna Warbirds: A Detailed and Personal History of Cessna's Involvement in the Armed Forces

Cessna Warbirds: A Detailed and Personal History of Cessna's Involvement in the Armed Forces

by Walt Shiel

This landmark book by former Air Force pilot and internationally-known aviation author Walt Shiel, provides the complete and rarely-told story of the 12,000+ Cessna aircraft that have served in the US military and in armed forces around the world. Cessna Warbirds blends hard technical information about each aircraft with personal anecdotes by the pilots who flew them. Over 400 photos, many in color, illustrate... (more)

Da Nang Diary: A Forward Air Controller's Gunsight View of Combat in Vietnam

Da Nang Diary: A Forward Air Controller's Gunsight View of Combat in Vietnam

by Tom Yarborough

The Forward Air Controller (FAC), flying low and slow, was a key player in virtually every battle of the Vietnam War. This true story of the Prairie Fire FACs describes the impossible rescues and harrowing day-long missions these courageous fliers experienced as they took the war into the enemy's backyard. Photographs. HC: St. Martin's. (War History)

Skyward: Man's Mastery of the Air

by Richard Evelyn Byrd

In the tradition of The Endurance and Lindbergh , a dramatic memoir and chronicle of polar aviation exploration, transatlantic flight, and the early years of military aviation. Skyward is the story of the pilot and explorer who gave rise to American aviation. In this memoir, originally published in 1928, Admiral Richard E. Byrd dramatically re-creates the youthful and dangerous years of American flight. The... (more)

The Maverick War: Chennault and the Flying TigersDuane Schultz

The Maverick War: Chennault and the Flying Tigers

by Duane P. Schultz

The Flying Tigers was a sort of airborne flying foreign legion, credited with saving China from Japanese conquest early in World War II. This highly readable book traces its creation by Claire Chennault, a fiercely independent retired soldier appointed air adviser by Chiang Kai-shek, and its awesome accomplishments with a handful of rowdily aggressive pilots. The air battles are memorably described, but the... (more)

Cannibal Queen: A Flight Into the Heart of America

Cannibal Queen: A Flight Into the Heart of America

by Stephen Coonts

Stephen Coonts, New York Times bestselling author of Flight of the Intruder, Under Siege, and Cuba, has been hailed as the best contemporary author writing about flying. In The Cannibal Queen, he turns his storytelling genius to nonfiction with an exultant account of the summer of '91 -- of three glorious months spent exploring America from the cockpit of a 1942 Stearman vintage biplane. Joining the ranks... (more)

Vulture's Row: Thirty Years in Naval Aviation

Vulture's Row: Thirty Years in Naval Aviation

by Paul T. Gillcrist

Told in anecdotal form, Vulture's Row tells a fascinating story about an important period covering nearly one half of the entire history of U.S. naval aviation. ""Vulture's Row"" is an area dubbed by naval flyers, on the island structure of an aircraft carr

Full Circle

by J. E. Johnson

In World War One, pilots flew alone, engaging in aerial duels using rifles or revolvers. Solo planes evolved into two-seaters, then into ones capable of carrying entire squadrons. But, as aircraft gained speed and altitude, the trend reversed, and with the advent of supersonic technology, air warfare has come full circle--back to single numbers. The top-scoring Allied Fighter Pilot of World War Two chronicles the... (more)

Mustang Ace: Memoirs of a P-51 Fighter Pilot

Mustang Ace: Memoirs of a P-51 Fighter Pilot

by Robert J. Goebel

When Bob Goebel left home to join the Army Air Corps in 1942, he was a nineteen years old and a high school graduate. Cadet Goebel worked his way steadily through the Basic, Primary, and Advanced phases of military flight training, and found in himself an aptitude for flight. After graduation from flight school with his new wings and new commission as a 2d Lieutenant, he and his classmates were posted to a fighter... (more)

Airpower in Small Wars: Fighting Insurgents and Terrorists (Modern War Studies)

Airpower in Small Wars: Fighting Insurgents and Terrorists (Modern War Studies)

by James S. Corum

The use of airpower in wartime calls to mind the massive bombings of World War II, but aeroplanes have long been instrumental in small wars as well. Ever since its use by the French to put down rebellious Moroccan tribes in 1913, air power has been employed to fight in limited but often lengthy small conflicts around the globe. This volume presents a comprehensive history of airpower in small wars - conflicts... (more)

Paratrooper!: The Saga of U. S. Army and Marine Parachute and Glider Combat Troops During World War II

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: aviation history

by Chuck Yeager, Leo Janos

by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

by Ernest Kellogg Gann

by Richard Bach

by Jean Potter

by Paul T. Gillcrist

by Lynn Spencer

by Philip D. Caine

by Robert Mason

by Robert J. Serling

by Walt Shiel

by Tom Yarborough

by Richard Evelyn Byrd

by Duane P. Schultz

by Stephen Coonts

by Paul T. Gillcrist

by J. E. Johnson

by Robert J. Goebel

by James S. Corum

by Gerard M. Devlin