22 Best 「flying」 Books of 2024| Books Explorer

In this article, we will rank the recommended books for flying. The list is compiled and ranked by our own score based on reviews and reputation on the Internet.
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Table of Contents
  1. Stick and Rudder
  2. Fly Girls
  3. Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: FAA-H-8083-25B (FAA Handbooks series)
  4. Fate is the Hunter: A Pilot's Memoir
  5. Weather Flying
  6. Fly the Wing: Revised Third Edition - Includes additional resources for download
  7. The Thinking Pilot's Flight Manual: Or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing It
  8. Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice
  9. The Wright Brothers
  10. The Thinking Pilot's Flight Manual: Or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing It, Volume 2
Other 12 books
No.1
100

Stick and Rudder

Langewiesche, Wolfgang
McGraw-Hill Professional Pub
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No.2
86

Fly Girls

O'Brien, Keith
Eamon Dolan Books Paper

A New York Times Bestseller * An Amazon Best Book of the Year * A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice * A Time Best Book for SummerBetween the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. While male pilots were lauded as heroes, the few women who dared to fly were more often ridiculed—until a cadre of women pilots banded together to break through the entrenched prejudice.Fly Girls weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout from Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcée; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at her blue blood family’s expectations; and Louise Thaden, the young mother of two who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to fly and race airplanes—and in 1936, one of them would triumph, beating the men in the toughest air race of them all.

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No.3
84

Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: FAA-H-8083-25B (FAA Handbooks series)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/Aviation Supplies & Academics (ASA)
Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc.

Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. has been the industry’s trusted source for official FAA publications for over 80 years. Look for the ASA wings to ensure you’re purchasing the latest authentic FAA release.This handbook FAA-H-8083-25B is current in 2023.This official FAA handbook has been required reading for more than 30 years. Providing basic knowledge essential for all pilots, from beginning students through to the more advanced certificates, this Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) publication introduces readers to the broad spectrum of knowledge required as they progress through pilot training. Studying this book, pilots gain the required knowledge to earn a certificate and understand aerodynamic theory associated with airplane flight. Written for the pilot preparing for a Remote, Sport, Private, Commercial, or Flight Instructor Pilot Certificate, it is a key reference for all the information necessary to operate an aircraft and to pass the FAA Knowledge Exam and Practical Test (checkride).This invaluable learning tool begins with a basic introduction to flying and a history of flight, then explores the role of the FAA, criteria for earning the various pilot certificates, how to select a flight school and instructor, and the tests associated with earning a pilot certificate. Topics covered include aeronautical decision making, aircraft construction, principles of flight, aerodynamics of flight, flight controls, aircraft systems, flight instruments, flight manuals and other documents, weight and balance, aircraft performance, weather theory, aviation weather services, airport operations, airspace, navigation, and aeromedical factors. Appendices provide additional support including acronyms, abbreviations, and NOTAM contractions, airport signs and markings, a glossary and index.

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No.4
83

Ernest K. Gann’s classic pilot's memoir is an up-close and thrilling account of the treacherous early days of commercial aviation. “Few writers have ever drawn readers so intimately into the shielded sanctum of the cockpit, and it is hear that Mr. Gann is truly the artist” (The New York Times Book Review).“A splendid and many-faceted personal memoir that is not only one man’s story but the story, in essence, of all men who fly” (Chicago Tribune). In his inimitable style, Gann brings you right into the cockpit, recounting both the triumphs and terrors of pilots who flew when flying was anything but routine.

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No.5
79

Weather Flying

Buck, Robert N.
McGraw-Hill Professional Pub

Weather Flying is regarded in the industry as the bible of weather flying. Robert Buck, a general aviation and commercial pilot with tens of thousands of hours of flight time, explains weather in a nontechnical way, giving pilots useful understanding of weather and practical knowledge of how to judge it and fly it. Covers weather flying psychology, en route weather changes, radar and how to use it, taking off in bad weather, and much more. Winner of the Flight Safety Foundation's Publication Award; recommended by the FAA.

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No.6
76

This special printing of the Third Edition comes with a download code for the software (previously in CD format), which gives the reader further tools for study and research. This material can be downloaded from the ASA website (using the code printed in the book).Updated to include coverage of modern cockpit automation, "Fly the Wing" (Third Edition) provides pilots with valuable tools and proven techniques for all flight operations. Also new to this edition is a companion CD-ROM with a complete glossary of flight terms, printable quick reference handbooks, and numerous supporting graphics. Pilots planning a career in aviation will find that this book provides important insights that other books miss.Written in an easy, conversational style, this useful reference progresses from ground school equipment and procedures, to simulators, to real flight. Along the way, the authors cover the physical, psychological and technical preparation needed by pilots to acquire an ATP certificate while maintaining the highest standards of performance.Although not intended to replace training manuals, "Fly the Wing" is by itself a course in advanced aviation. With clear explanations and in-depth coverage, it has been described as a full step beyond the normal training handbook. Pilots desiring additional knowledge in the fields of modern flight deck automation, high-speed aerodynamics, high-altitude flying, speed control, take-offs, and landings in heavy, high performance aircraft will do well to read and retain this material.

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No.7
74

In a provocative and sometimes controversial style, this guide starts where standard-issue flight training manuals leave off. The Thinking Pilot guides you deeply into topics that weren't taught in flight training-everything from how to really do a preflight, through keeping your passengers happy, scud running, precautionary landings, and how to survive a crash. It includes a detailed introduction to flying floats, skis, aerobatics, and classic airplanes; probes some of aviation's dirty little secrets, explodes myths, and presents the best, most succinct guide to flying tailwheel airplanes ever written. Rick Durden was once described as aviation's Renaissance Man. He is an Airline Transport-rated pilot with experience in some 200 types of airplanes, a practicing aviation attorney who has been involved in hundreds of aircraft accident cases, writer, aviation magazine editor, safety counselor, flight instructor, volunteer pilot in remote areas of the U.S. and Central America, and has been the executive director of a nonprofit conservation organization making use of aircraft and volunteer pilots throughout much of North America.

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No.8
74

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • From America’s “forgotten war” in Korea comes an unforgettable tale of courage by the author of A Higher Call.“In the spirit of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat comes Devotion.”—Associated Press • “Aerial drama at its best—fast, powerful, and moving.”—Erik LarsonDevotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy’s most famous aviation duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American sharecropper’s son from Mississippi, Jesse became the navy’s first Black carrier pilot, defending a nation that wouldn’t even serve him in a bar.While much of America remained divided by segregation, Jesse and Tom joined forces as wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32. Adam Makos takes us into the cockpit as these bold young aviators cut their teeth at the world’s most dangerous job—landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier—a line of work that Jesse’s young wife, Daisy, struggles to accept.Deployed to the Mediterranean, Tom and Jesse meet the Fleet Marines, boys like PFC “Red” Parkinson, a farm kid from the Catskills. In between war games in the sun, the young men revel on the Riviera, partying with millionaires and even befriending the Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor. Then comes the conflict that no one expected: the Korean War.Devotion takes us soaring overhead with Tom and Jesse, and into the foxholes with Red and the Marines as they battle a North Korean invasion. As the fury of the fighting escalates and the Marines are cornered at the Chosin Reservoir, Tom and Jesse fly, guns blazing, to try and save them. When one of the duo is shot down behind enemy lines and pinned in his burning plane, the other faces an unthinkable choice: watch his friend die or attempt history’s most audacious one-man rescue mission.A tug-at-the-heartstrings tale of bravery and selflessness, Devotion asks: How far would you go to save a friend?

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No.9
72

The Wright Brothers

McCullough, David
Simon & Schuster

The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright.On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).

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No.10
71

Volume 2 of The Thinking Pilot's Flight Manual carries on the widely praise, penetrating, and clear-headed approach of Volume I, addressing matters of importance to pilots that ordinary flight training manuals never tough. It delves into everything from the realities of making the go/no-go decision during the takeoff roll, nailing spot landings, which emergencies to practice, and how to take babies and kids flying. It explores how we scare our passengers without realizing it, IFR training in IMC, and takes a hard look at spin training. Rick Durden is one of three 2015 recipients of the Endeavor Award, honoring volunteer pilots who have made significant contributions to flying to serve the public. For 25 years he has made flights in remote areas of the U.S. and Central America in support of conservation. He is an Airline Transport-rated pilot with experience in over 200 types of airplanes, a practicing aviation attorney who has been involved in hundreds of aircraft accident cases, writer, aviation magazine editor, safety counselor, and flight instructor.

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No.11
71

Wings

Crouch, Tom D.
W. W. Norton & Company

"A superb history of flying machines . . . the best one-volume analysis of the subject."―Kirkus Reviews, starred review The invention of the airplane ushered in the modern age―a new era of global commerce, revolutionary technologies, and total war. Whatever the practical consequences, the sheer exhilaration of flight captured the imagination. No longer bound to the surface of the earth, humans took the first steps on a journey that would eventually carry them to other worlds. Tom Crouch weaves the people, machines, and ideas of the air age into a compelling narrative. He tells how the enthusiasm of amateurs spawned an industry that determined the rise and fall of nations. Yet this is not a tale of unalloyed progress. Moments of exaltation were tempered by bitter disappointment and stark terror. Blind alleys were the price of technical progress. In the end, there is no more fascinating cast of characters than those who wrote history in the sky. Theirs is a fascinating story of realizing an extraordinary dream and riding it. 82 photographs.

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No.12
69

F-4 Phantom: A Pilot's Story

Prest, Robert
Corgi Childrens
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No.13
69

Beyond the Wild Blue is a fascinating look at fifty turbulent years of Air Force history. From the prop-driven armada of World War II to the most advanced Stealth weaponry, from pioneers like General Henry "Hap" Arnold to glorious conquests in the Gulf War, Beyond the Wild Blue is a high-flying study of the triumphs (and failures) of leadership and technology

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No.14
65

With a Foreword by Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute to Midnight. Human intelligence was lacking during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the various intelligence agencies had to rely on their most reliable means to guide them - aerial photography. Photographs of the missile sites were effectively used to persuade doubtful allies, as well as adversaries, that the evidence was real, and they rallied worldwide support of the American strategies focused on the removal of the offensive weapons from Cuba. President Kennedy's Executive Committee of the National Security council opened each meeting with a briefing of the latest analysis of the previous day's photo missions. Aerial photography was soon recognized as essential to the outcome of the crisis.Both President Kennedy and Chairman Khrushchev recognized that they did not completely control events, and understood that unexpected events could spiral the crisis out of control. While precipitating the crisis by the introduction of offensive weapons in Cuba, Khrushchev stepped back from the nuclear abyss that both countries were heading for. Kennedy on the other hand utilized his military options in an effective strategy of ratcheting up pressure and, at the same time, resisting his civilian and military advisors' demands for attacking Cuba. Photographic intelligence gave him the time to develop a peaceful resolution to the crisis.Most books on the Cuban Missile Crisis tell the story through the perspective of memoirs of those who advised President Kennedy, as he struggled to avoid World War III. This book explains the critical events, along with the experiences of those who execute presidential commands in times of national crisis. Their competence, or lack of it, often can mean the difference between war and peace. The history unfolds as the reader is put into the cockpit of a supersonic photo jet, giving a fresh perspective of those suspenseful thirteen days. Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute To Midnight, describes Blue Moon over Cuba as 'a wonderful contribution to the body of Missile Crisis literature. The book will undoubtedly be the most authoritative and complete account of the low-level reconnaissance over Cuba.'

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No.15
65

The dramatic account of the last British bomber raid — the long-range attack on Stanley airfield that opened the Falklands War.Before dawn on May 1st, 1982, a lone RAF Vulcan B2 bomber made its way towards the runway at Port Stanley airport. It was aiming to strike the first blow of Britain’s campaign to retake the Falklands. The flight was the culmination of a huge military effort and was the longest-range attack in aviation history. It was also the last time that the RAF flew heavy bombers into combat, before the old techniques and equipment were replaced with the digital, fly-by-wire, precision-guided weaponry of modern warfare.When war broke out, the Vulcan was already facing retirement. The aircraft had to be completely overhauled, and the story of how a seemingly endless list of problems and unexpected difficulties was overcome is a story of true British ingenuity.The mission came perilously close to disaster. Two Vulcan bombers took off in the late evening of April 30th to begin a twelve-hour round trip to the Falklands. Within minutes of take-off, the lead Vulcan was forced to turn back because of mechanical difficulties, leaving Vulcan 607 and her crew alone to undertake a mission. Vulcan 607 is the dramatic retelling of this singular mission. Using extensive interviews with the combatants, residents of Stanley, and military command, Rowland White has reconstructed the flight and its preparation in gripping detail.

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No.16
65

The latest groundbreaking tome from Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek.From the author:“For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads.“This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.“What makes the show different is a relentless focus on actionable details. This is reflected in the questions. For example: What do these people do in the first sixty minutes of each morning? What do their workout routines look like, and why? What books have they gifted most to other people? What are the biggest wastes of time for novices in their field? What supplements do they take on a daily basis?“I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something and replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested.“Everything within these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration.“I created this book, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.”

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No.17
63

#1 MULTI-MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER • A one-of-a-kind portrait of a true American hero: General Chuck Yeager“The secret of my success is that I always managed to live to fly another day.”General Chuck Yeager was the greatest test pilot of them all—the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound . . . the World War II flying ace who shot down a Messerschmitt jet with a prop-driven P-51 Mustang . . . the hero who defined a certain quality that all hotshot fly-boys of the postwar era aimed to achieve: the right stuff.Now he tells his whole incredible life story with the same “wide-open, full throttle” approach that has marked his astonishing career. What it was really like engaging in do-or-die dogfights over Nazi Europe. How after being shot down over occupied France, Yeager somehow managed to escape. The amazing behind-the-scenes story of smashing the sound barrier despite cracked ribs from a riding accident days before.The entire story is here, in Yeager’s own words, and in wonderful insights from his wife and those friends and colleagues who have known him best. It is the personal and public story of a man who settled for nothing less than excellence.

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No.18
63

The Cannibal Queen

Coonts, Stephen
Gallery Books

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 of John Steinbeck and Charles Kuralt, Coonts takes us on an extraordinary adventure, touching down in all forty-eight of the continental United States, from sea to shining sea.

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No.19
62

Flight of the Intruder

Coonts, Stephen
Naval Inst Pr

Also Available in an Audio Edition from Audible via Amazon\nIn Flight of the Intruder Jake Grafton is an A-6 Intruder pilot during the Vietnam War who flies his bomber on sorties past enemy flak and SAM missiles, and then must maneuver his plane, often at night, onto the relatively small deck of an aircraft carrier. Former Navy flyer Stephen Coonts gives an excellent sense of the complexities of modern air raids and how nerve-wracking it is, even for the best airmen, to technically solve sudden problems over and over, knowing that even a twist of fate like a peasant wildly firing a rifle from a field could wipe out the crew. Grafton alternates between remorse over the fate of his unseen Vietnamese victims on the ground and a gung-ho "let's win this war" sentiment that lashes at both policymakers who select less-than-important targets for the dangerous missions and advocates for peace back in the States.

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No.20
62

Into the Abyss: An Extraordinary True Story

Shaben, Carol
Grand Central Publishing

Wonderful story of the human will fro survival!

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No.21
61

Weather Flying

Buck, Robert N.
McGraw-Hill Professional Pub

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product.THE BEST RESOURCE A PILOT CAN HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO FLY IN ALL TYPES OF WEATHERHow do you improve on the best guide for pilots to learn how to fly in all kinds of weather? The answer is the Fifth Edition of Weather Flying. Regarded as the bible of weather flying, this aviation classic not only continues to make complex weather concepts understandable for even the least experienced of flyers, but has now been updated to cover new advances in technology. At the same time, this respected text still retains many of its original insights from over four decades of publication, provided by renowned weather flying veteran Robert N. Buck.In a straightforward style, new author Robert O. Buck (son of the book's original author) delves into how computers, personal electronic devices, electronic flightinstrument systems, and other technologies are changing the way general aviation pilots fly weather. He addresses the philosophy and discipline required to use these systems, what they are really telling us, and their task as supplement to good flying sense. The updated Fifth Edition also discusses how to handle changes in FSS weather briefing, including a look at new weather information products and airborne datalink weather information as they affect weather flying.This new edition features: Discussions of weather information--what it is, how to get it, and how to use it Explanations of various weather phenomena and how they affect a flight Updates on the new GPS and smart technology used in weather flying Changes in weather information and briefi ngs Descriptions of improved anti- and deicing systems Serious discussion of the pilot-electronics interfaceNow more than ever, having the Bucks' Weather Flying at the controls is the next best thing to having the authors with you in the cockpit.

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No.22
61

Squawk 7700 is a first-hand account of author Peter Buffington s experiences as a commercial airline pilot and the journey he took to reach his childhood dream. Buckle your seatbelt and prepare for an eye-opening, turbulent ride into the world of aviation from the pilot's seat. From student pilot at age 15, to flight instructor, to nighttime cargo pilot, and finally as first officer aboard the ATR 72 turboprop airliners island hopping the Caribbean, Squawk 7700 is a riveting aviation adventure.

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