The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

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caption id="attachment_7496" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Night flight captures the solitude and risk of early air mail routes."] [/caption] A classic of aviation literature, the novel Night Flight is heavily based on French aviator and writer Saint-Exupery’s experience of working as an airmail pilot, in the interwar years. The book captures the danger and loneliness of these early commercial pilots, blazing routes in the days before radar, GPS and jet engines. Vulcan 607 – Rowland White Morris liked to share the books with others. Sometimes it was a favorite that everyone loved, and other times he found a lonely little volume whose tale was seldom told. 'Everyone's story matters,' said Morris. All the books agreed." On the other hand, this was made into a very watchable Academy Award-winning short film that provides more visual interest and adds even more charming notes. You haven’t seen animated books until you saw the little egg-book above play a piano at 6:05. The above ‘surgery’ scene, which follows soon after, is a charming spoof of historical medical theater. It's only 17 minutes long and free on youtube when I wrote this review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad3CM... caption id="attachment_7495" align="alignnone" width="333" caption="A fascinating account of a fighter pilot's job during the Cold War."] [/caption] What First Light does for Spitfires and the Battle of Britain, Robert Prest does for the F-4 Phantom in RAF service in the Cold War. Bouncing Buccaneers at low level, the awesome power of a jet fighter at your fingertips, this book gives a day-to-day account of a fighter pilot on QRA defending the UK and NATO in the military stand-off in Europe. Superbly written. Night Flight – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Night Flight is a novel based on the real-life experiences of author Antoine de Saint-Exupery. In the 1930s, the French pilot flew perilous mail routes across Africa and the South Atlantic. The book tells the story of aeroplane pilot Fabien, who makes mail flights between Chile, Patagonia and Paraguay to Argentina. Set in the early days of aviation when aircrafts didn’t come with jet engines, GPS or radar, the journeys were fraught with danger. In the novel, Fabien attempts a particularly terrifying trip during a heavy night-time thunderstorm in Argentina. Not all nonfiction aviation books need to be boring—even when they cover technical information you can apply to your own flying. We’ve found a few here that make for easy and/or fun reading while you learn. Mr. Lessmore found a place in this world to organize, mend, share, and get lost in. Me too! The library is where I go to find quiet, peace, and stories. I feel comfortable surrounded by books and words. The library always has and always will be a home to me. A pilot’s job can often take a toll on them both physically and mentally if you’re not prepared. This book offers solid advice for any commercial pilot. The book has been updated five times and includes the latest advances in flight weather services, including radar. This is a good read for both aspiring and professional flyers, with simple explanations on how to judge and negotiate weather conditions. Weather Flying won the Safety Foundation’s Publication Award and is recommended by the FAA.Not every project came off – far from it, as the book reveals. We all know of the successes – Thrust 2, Thrust SSC and the Bloodhound, now out of Richard’s hands but still showing potential to hit 1,000mph – but along the way were failures like the ARV Super 2 light aircraft, the Atlantic Sprinter – a long range powerboat and the Farnborough F1 turboprop. The latter was aimed at delivering an ‘air taxi service’ (Noble likens it to Uber) that, operating from small airfields, would beat the airlines in time taken to deliver passengers to their destinations. Among the stories are those of Florence Klingensmith, Ruth Elder, Amelia Earhart, Ruth Nichols, and Louise Thaden, who excelled at racing airplanes–and then translated this skill to other aviation pursuits.

I definitely enjoyed the drawings, which remained me of the style of Chris Van Allsburg, one of my favorite picture book artists. What We Like: This manual offers additional insight into the practice of flying that goes beyond the basic maneuvers. Durden fills in the gaps, so this is the book one read after you have your pilot certificate or anytime you have aviation questions. caption id="attachment_7494" align="alignnone" width="222" caption="Fiction it may be, but Bomber conveys the courage and tragedy of WW2 night air raids in an unforgettable way."] [/caption] A masterpiece of storytelling and research, Len Deighton’s novel Bomber focuses on a single night in RAF Bomber Command’s aerial campaign against Germany in WW2. As well as the Lancaster crews, it also includes the point of view from ground crews, civilians and the Luftwaffe nightfighters. A brutal and harrowing account of total aerial warfare. F-4 Phantom - A Pilot’s Story - Robert Prest

Gloster Aircraft Since 1917

Charles Lindbergh is famous for his solo nonstop trans-Atlantic journey from New York to Paris in 1927. This autobiographical account of the landmark flight details the thrilling danger of Lindbergh’s journey in his single-seat, custom-built aircraft: the Spirit of St. Louis. The Pulitzer Prize-winning adventure tale gives readers a glimpse into the history of aviation before the days or commercial flights and air charter services. Former FLYING editor-in-chief Richard Collins approaches the seriousness of flying with the right attitude in this book. Navigating any difficult situation in the air is the hallmark of becoming a good pilot, so Collins helps you to prepare yourself as best you can by reviewing the stories and practical advice that Collins shares from a lifetime of flying.

Whatever type of aviation book you have been looking to read, we have collected ideas from FLYING’s readers on what they feel are the best ones. We’ve compiled a list of the top-ten best aviation book options that are both excellent reads as well as informative in all the right ways. This is a lovely book, just as the animated film made from it is lovely. It is the kind of premise I resist, maybe because it sounds too generalized or precious about The Things That Matter, but its execution is really beautiful, and I love it. Books are important. They contain the magic of other worlds and lives and the magic of our experiences living in other worlds and other lives. Learn everything about flight instruments, weather theory, aerodynamics, aircraft systems, airports, and navigation—you name it, this book has it.

Boeing Aircraft Since 1916

I first fell in love with the Fantastic Flying Books and Morris Lessmore's story from the beautiful Academy Award-winning short film based on Joyce's book. I was so excited when my library finally got a copy of the book itself so that I could enjoy the original. A beautiful picture book, but one written for adults more than children. I didn’t have a child to test it on, so I’m just going from memories of my child tendencies, and past experiences of trying to interest small ones in picture books. caption id="attachment_7490" align="alignnone" width="163" caption="Evocative passages in First Light could have been written yesterday."] [/caption] Only published in 2002 this gripping account from an RAF Spitfire pilot of fighting in the Battle of Britain reads as fresh as if was written yesterday. Wellum, who joined 92 Squadron in 1940, was one of the youngest pilots in the Battle and eloquently describes how, to him, one year he was at school, the next he was engaged in a desperate fight with the Luftwaffe above Kent. West with the Night – Beryl Markham What We Like: O’Brien flawlessly writes about the exciting and sometimes heartbreaking experiences these women went through, particularly during the air races in which they took part. Many of their stories remain unknown outside of aviation, but their fearless spirit can be appreciated by all.

The clue is in the title: Ron Lloyd came to fly the Spitfire only after a long operational career that started on the Gloucester Javelin, involved a fascinating stint flying the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger on a USAF exchange programme and by 1969 saw him instructing on the Folland Gnat. The producers of the Battle of Britain movie had acquired their ‘enemy’ aircraft from the Spanish, but it was the RAF that provided the bulk of the home contingent, in the form of gate guardian Spitfires restored to flying – or at least taxying – condition and the pilots to fly them. Among this happy number was Ron, who not only logged lots of hours flying for the director but took a large number of behind the scenes ‘stills’ that add greatly to the appeal and historical interest of Fast Jets to Spitfires.What We Like: This book helps you understand some obvious and not-so-obvious risks found in piloting light aircraft in particular, and how you can prepare yourself best to mitigate those risks in your own flying. West with the Night is the riveting autobiography of aviator adventurer Beryl Markham. The beautifully-written memoir is largely set in 1920s and ’30s Kenya, where British-born Markham grew up. She discovered her love of flying while scouting elephants from a tiny jet and became one of the country’s first bush pilots. Markham was also the first woman to receive a commercial Kenyan pilot’s licence, as well as make a solo trans-Atlantic crossing in 1936. Read the gripping tale of this 3,600-mile journey, which she navigated against strong headwinds in an aeroplane that flew only 163 miles per hour. West with the Night is a true non-fiction aviation classic. He also attempts something rather unusual in making this flying book accessible to the non-pilot. There are long sections that explain clearly the basics of flying and aviation systems, and a respectable glossary is included alongside the index. This rather different approach may well appeal to casual readers – I am not quite sure how many of them would be in the aviation autobiography market – but it does mean there are a few chunks of the book that flyers will inevitably skip. That said, there is so much of interest here that that Fast Jets to Spitfires really would be a welcome Christmas present for pilots and enthusiasts alike. caption id="attachment_7492" align="alignnone" width="165" caption="Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter draws heavily on the authors WW1 experience."] [/caption] Biggles might be regarded in some quarters now as hopelessly outdated - a children’s square-jawed flying ace from a different age. However, Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter contains a collection of vignettes that draw heavily on Johns’ own first-hand flying experiences as a pilot flying DH4s with 55 Sqn in WW1, including being shot down and taken prisoner. One wonders of the tales in this book, (including a carrier messenger pigeon going through the propeller) how many of these had happened to the author himself. Propellerhead – Anthony Woodward