Good flying fiction?

[Chris Wells]

I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?

[Al G[_1_]]

"Chris Wells" > wrote in message
...
>
> I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
> "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend
> more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?
>
>
>
>
> --
> Chris Wells

Not exactly fiction, "Fate is the Hunter", by Earnest K. Gann

Good read.

Al G

[Chris Wells]

It's funny, today I found the "Reluctant Messiah" book & read it, then I took out a book by Frank Tallman, "Flying the Old Planes" - and now I see this post, and note that the forward is written by Ernest Gann.



"Chris Wells" wrote in message
...

I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
"The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend
more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?




--
Chris Wells

Not exactly fiction, "Fate is the Hunter", by Earnest K. Gann

Good read.

Al G

[Ron Hardin]

I carried a copy of ``The High and the Mighty'' crossing most of
the Pacific in company DC-6s in the 60s, but nobody noticed.

As an extremely bored kid stuck in the mountains for summer vacations
I read every book with an airplane in it from the local library. It's
amazing how much crap they put in about social relationships and stuff
that you have to wade through to get to the airplane parts.

(This mountain place had a short unattended airstrip that I'd think
about flying into and out of, ascending the mountains without the
necessity of any work. Years later I flew in and out a few times,
and the mountain part was completely uninteresting, a strange result.)

As a grown-up, I can't reproduce the interest in airplanes necessary
to read this stuff, or rather it changed to an interest in physics
rather than fantasized freedom. The social relationship parts are
still crap.

If you want to get to the meat of the stories, old Flying magazine
stories ``I learned about flying from that'' always had some nugget
of warning. Add girls and a destination and you have a novel for kids,
if they can wade through the girl part.

Example of interest today, a story about a commuter plane that crashed
in Texas year ago now, that turned out to be from stalling the
stabilizer. That's an interesting crash.

--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

[gAiL]

Biggles!?

;D

[RST Engineering]

The entire title is "Illusions: The Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah" by
Richard Bach. At one time he wrote a monthly column for a now defunct
magazine and the best of those columns have been collected into a book
called "A Gift Of Wings". Excellent reading.

Google "Richard Bach" and see what pops up. He of late has been
concentrating on kid's books to the exclusion of the aviation stuff.

Met him at Oshkosh a few years ago and got him to autograph my copy of
Illusions. Told him it comforted me through three jobs and two wives and he
seemed to get a kick out of that.

Jim


> Al G Wrote:
>> "Chris Wells" wrote in
>> message
>> ...-
>>
>> I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
>> "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone
>> recommend
>> more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?

[Geoff Miller]

RST Engineering > writes:

> The entire title is "Illusions: The Adventures Of A Reluctant
> Messiah" by Richard Bach.


Also good is _Stranger To the Ground_, about the time Bach spent
flying F-84 Thunderstreaks with the Air National Guard. I found
it a much more satisfying read, airplane content-wise, than the
New Agey stuff he wrote later.

What was the now-defunct magazine that Bach once wrote a column
for? Omni?



Geoff

--
"I can no longer sit back and allow communist infiltration,
communist indoctrination, communist subversion, and the
international communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all
of our precious bodily fluids!" --Gen. Jack D. Ripper, USAF

[Gus Cabre]

Not flying fiction, but the story of Flt Lt Geoffrey Wellum who flew during
the Battle of Britain: "First Light". I couldn't put it down until finished.
Highly recommended.

Gus
Coltishall, UK
"Al G" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Chris Wells" > wrote in
> message ...
>>
>> I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
>> "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend
>> more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chris Wells
>
> Not exactly fiction, "Fate is the Hunter", by Earnest K. Gann
>
> Good read.
>
> Al G
>
>

[Chris Wells]

I also thought I'd mention a book called "Flights of Passage", about a Navy bomber pilot in the Pacific during WW2. (sorry, the author's name escapes me at the moment)

Also, "Silent Wings: Adventures in Motorless Flight" - great stuff about gliders, including a lot about their use in WW2...plus "Flight of Passage", about a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old who restored a Piper Cub and flew it across the US & back.

[Steven P. McNicoll]

"Chris Wells" > wrote in message
...
>
> I recently visited the Niagara Aerospace Museum (thumbs up!) and got the
> opportunity to see a P39 Airacobra close-up...and I noticed that the
> elevator and ailerons (& possibly the rudder as well) were
> fabric-covered, instead of aluminum like the rest of the plane. Is this
> the way they were built?
>

Yes.

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article >,
Chris Wells > wrote:

> I recently visited the Niagara Aerospace Museum (thumbs up!) and got the
> opportunity to see a P39 Airacobra close-up...and I noticed that the
> elevator and ailerons (& possibly the rudder as well) were
> fabric-covered, instead of aluminum like the rest of the plane. Is this
> the way they were built?

Yup. The P-51 also had a fabric-covered rudder; early-model Corsairs had
a fair amount of fabric on the wings, too.

[Terry]

Yes... and quite a few bombers as well... B-17 comes to mind...

Terry

"Chris Wells" > wrote in
message ...
>
> I recently visited the Niagara Aerospace Museum (thumbs up!) and got
> the
> opportunity to see a P39 Airacobra close-up...and I noticed that the
> elevator and ailerons (& possibly the rudder as well) were
> fabric-covered, instead of aluminum like the rest of the plane. Is
> this
> the way they were built?
>
>
>
>
> --
> Chris Wells

[David Lesher]

Orval Fairbairn > writes:


>> I recently visited the Niagara Aerospace Museum (thumbs up!) and got the
>> opportunity to see a P39 Airacobra close-up...and I noticed that the
>> elevator and ailerons (& possibly the rudder as well) were
>> fabric-covered, instead of aluminum like the rest of the plane. Is this
>> the way they were built?

>Yup. The P-51 also had a fabric-covered rudder; early-model Corsairs had
>a fair amount of fabric on the wings, too.

Interesting. I seem to recall reading in Douglas Bader's book how
they jumped the queue to get the more effective aluminum rudder/ailerons
on their aircraft by flying to the factory for the instalation.

A year+ later, the bill arrived and he suggested past squadron
leaders as the ones to ask; one was dead, another a POW, etc..
--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

[Juan Jimenez[_1_]]

And the DC-3.

"Terry" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> Yes... and quite a few bombers as well... B-17 comes to mind...
>
> Terry
>
> "Chris Wells" > wrote in
> message ...
>>
>> I recently visited the Niagara Aerospace Museum (thumbs up!) and got the
>> opportunity to see a P39 Airacobra close-up...and I noticed that the
>> elevator and ailerons (& possibly the rudder as well) were
>> fabric-covered, instead of aluminum like the rest of the plane. Is this
>> the way they were built?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chris Wells
>
>



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[John Szalay]

"Juan Jimenez" > wrote in
:

> And the DC-3.
>
> "Terry" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
>> Yes... and quite a few bombers as well... B-17 comes to mind...
>>
>> Terry
>>
>> "Chris Wells" > wrote in
>> message ...
>>>
>>> I recently visited the Niagara Aerospace Museum (thumbs up!) and got
>>> the opportunity to see a P39 Airacobra close-up...and I noticed that
>>> the elevator and ailerons (& possibly the rudder as well) were
>>> fabric-covered, instead of aluminum like the rest of the plane. Is
>>> this the way they were built?
>>> Chris Wells


Yep, my aunt sewed fabric for the planes coming out of the Grumman
plant in NY during WWII.

[Ron Hardin]

I think they used fabric to eliminate control surface flutter, the
aft-of-hinge mass being less.

I wonder what they used for dope. Nitrate was common but very
flammable, maybe not great on a warplane. I don't think butyrite
was around yet.
--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

[Michael[_1_]]

Ron Hardin wrote:
> I think they used fabric to eliminate control surface flutter, the
> aft-of-hinge mass being less.

Delay the onset of flutter, to be pedantic about it. Lacking a solid
unerstanding and good computer models, they just made the control
surfaces as light as possible and hoped for the best.

Michael

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article >,
Ron Hardin > wrote:

> I think they used fabric to eliminate control surface flutter, the
> aft-of-hinge mass being less.
>
> I wonder what they used for dope. Nitrate was common but very
> flammable, maybe not great on a warplane. I don't think butyrite
> was around yet.

Yes -- they used nitrate dope -- just like the Hindenburg! Acetate dope
came in after the war; butyrate a little later, then cellulose acetate
butyrate (CAB). CAB was the standard until Stits, etc. came up with
their products, but on Dacron, they still used nitrate dope to get
adhesion to the fabric.

[NW_Pilot]

Take a look at these books, Great author if your nice he will personalize
(sign them) them for ya and give you a great deal $$$! These books are Very
entertaining for the independent non-institutionalized thinker's out there!
So if you don't mind a little foul language some grammar errors and really
good stories worth supporting a fellow pilot and author!

http://www.spikefly.com/crop.php

http://www.spikefly.com/ferry_pilot.php



"Chris Wells" > wrote in message
...
>
> I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
> "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend
> more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?
>
>
>
>
> --
> Chris Wells

[richieb]

On Jan 30, 5:47 am, "NW_Pilot" >
wrote:
> Take a look at these books, Great author if your nice he will personalize
> (sign them) them for ya and give you a great deal $$$! These books are Very
> entertaining for the independent non-institutionalized thinker's out there!
> So if you don't mind a little foul language some grammar errors and really
> good stories worth supporting a fellow pilot and author!
>
> http://www.spikefly.com/crop.php
>
> http://www.spikefly.com/ferry_pilot.php
>
> "Chris Wells" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
> > "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend
> > more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?
>
> > --
> > Chris Wells

I have a web page with a list of aviation books I've read:

http://www.netlabs.net/~richieb/books.html

I haven't updated it in a while, but you may find it helpful

.....richie

[Richard Marmo]

Anything by Roy Dale Brown, but especially his first, The Flight Of The Old
Dog. Absolutely fantastic. Couldn't put it down.

Richard Marmo
http://scalepublications.freeyellow.com/avhisref4.html


"Al G" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Chris Wells" > wrote in
message
> ...
> >
> > I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
> > "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend
> > more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Chris Wells
>
> Not exactly fiction, "Fate is the Hunter", by Earnest K. Gann
>
> Good read.
>
> Al G
>
>

[Julian Gomez]

> > "Chris Wells" > wrote in
> message
> > >
> > > I've been looking for some good flying stories. A friend recommended
> > > "The Reluctant Messiah", which I've yet to find. Can someone recommend
> > > more, preferably written by a pilot & for pilots?

Great Flying Stories
by Frederick Forsyth

Definitely fits the bill, and the stories really are great.

--
"The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese."

Dr. Julian Gomez ** http://www.polished-pixels.com