The Right Stuff
1979 Book published by Tom Wolf about pilots involved in post-war experiments to go faster and higher than ever before in rocket-propelled aircraft. This leads on to the selection of first Project Mercury astronauts for the NASA space program in the race to beat the Russians to the moon.
Reach for the Sky
1954 book by Paul Brickhill about the of fighter ace Douglas Bader. He lost both legs in a plane accident in 1931 and nearly died in hospital. When he came out of hospital he learned to walk and fly again with artificial legs. When war broke out in 1940 he flew Spitfires in the Battle of France and later the Battle of Britain. He was shot down over Europe and was captured but managed to escape.
Chicken Hawk
1983 autobiography by Robert Mason about his experience of learning how to fly helicopters in the US Army and his harrowing experiences flying Huey Bell 205 helicopters in the Vietnam war.
Tornado Down
2002 book by William Pearson as told to him by pilot John Peters and navigator John Nichol. They flew the RAF Tornado into Iraq on their first mission and were shot down and captured. A frightening look at what can happen when things go wrong.
The Dam Busters
1951 book by Paul Brickhill about 617 Lancaster Bomber Squadron’s efforts to destroy heavily fortified German dam walls with a specially developed one-ton bouncing bomb during World War II.
I Lived To Fly Another Day
2015 book by George Wrigley about his lifetime of flying from fast jets to helicopters in the Rhodesian bush. Flying mercenary flights into Nicaragua for the CIA and retiring as an airline pilot. There are 44 fascinating short stories in this book.