What's On Your Bookshelf?

"Blanche" wrote in message
...
C J Campbell wrote:

"Marty Ross" wrote in message
"Stick And Rudder", Wolfgang Langewiesche
(http://www.pilotsbooks.com/stick_rudder.htm)

IMHO, this book should be "required reading" for all pilots.

The fact is, this book is outdated and contains some gross inaccuracies.

Knowing full well this is going to open a bag of worms...

citations and explanations, please.

It has been hashed over before, especially on the student group.
Langewiesche claims in the book that airplanes in the future will have no
rudder pedals, for example, and that tricycle (or 'safety' gear, as he calls
it) will completely supplant conventional gear. He claims that airplanes of
the future should all be stall-proof, without appearing to understand the
tradeoffs in performance that entails. He claims that airplanes fly by
"beating down the air," which is patently untrue; in fact the air under the
wing is pushed forward and causes some drag and little lift. The wing pulls
down air from above it, like a fan blade (which, basically, is just what it
is). Langewiesche's explanation of why airplanes fly does not explain
accurately why stalls occur, which is important for pilots to know. The book
makes all kinds of generalizations about flight instruction and piloting
theories which were current then but which no longer need to be discussed.
Basically, Langewiesche presents a lot of straw man arguments that he then
proceeds to demolish, claiming that he is some kind of iconoclast. Truth is,
much of that claim was baloney then and it is irrelevant now. His views were
not nearly so radical as he seems to think they were, and too much of the
text is taken up with promoting how great a thinker he is, as if he was
writing a diet book or something.

I realize that criticizing Langewiesche is an attack on a basic religious
belief, but the truth is that some progress in understanding aviation has
been made in the more than sixty years since the book was written, even if,
as is sometimes claimed, the basic principles of aerodynamics have not
changed. Of course, those principles were pretty well accepted before
Langewiesche, too, but you would not know that from reading the book.
Tricycle gear, for example, was not the new concept he seems to think it
was, but was only becoming practical at that time because more powerful
engines were obviating the need for huge propellers. The language is, well,
archaic. Langewiesche rambles on and on about his pet peeves and takes a
long time to say anything, but then says the same things over and over.
Sure, he made some valuable observations, but many modern books express
these concepts far more concisely and clearly and are a great deal less
self-serving.