Looking For a Good Read? Here Are Our Top 5 Aviation Books
Number 5.
The Aircraft Book: The Definitive Visual History
Featuring more than 1,000 of the greatest commercial and military aircraft ever made, this visual celebration of aeroplanes and aviation traces the history of flight over the past century.
The Aircraft Book takes you on an action-packed ride through the history of aircraft, from the first prototypes to today's supersonic jets. Explore stunning photographic galleries of planes, helicopters, and airships, each accompanied by its vital statistics. See inside legendary planes such as the Gipsy Moth, the Spitfire, and Concorde, with virtual tours of each key model, from the exterior to the cockpit. Discover the details of aircraft engines from manufacturers such as Rolls-Royce and Rotax to see what powers a great aircraft's performance. And find out how famous marques such as Boeing and Lockheed came to be household names.
Aviation enthusiasts of all stripes and ages will be captivated by this comprehensive and beautifully presented guide to the story of flight.
Buy here: The Aircraft Book: The Definitive Visual History
Number 4.
Big Book of Airplanes
From military planes to the commercial jumbo jet to space shuttles, the Big Book of Airplanes is a spectacular look at a subject that fascinates kids. Find out how farmers use planes to help manage their crops and get a look at the brightly colored planes at an airshow and find out how their designs help them pull off exciting stunts and acrobatics.
Each type of plane gets its own spread and features multiple images to give kids a look inside. Captions and text on the page go into detail about how each plane operates and the different tasks it performs from the ultralight planes that are used for sport to the seaplanes that can land on water.
With striking images and informative text, Big Book of Airplanes is the perfect guide for young readers who want to learn more about different aircrafts used around the world.
Buy here: Big Book of Airplanes
Number 3.
Boeing 747. Queen of the Skies: Reflections from the Flight Deck
The Boeing 747 is more than an airliner - it is the Queen of the Skies. From flights over Antarctica to carrying a spare fifth engine beneath the wing, award-winning aviation writer and airline pilot, Owen Zupp, has detailed the varied journeys of the magnificent Boeing 747. Click below to buy this book and share the journey.
The author has done a magnificent job at writing about the operations of the legendary Boeing 747-400. The book can be easily digested by the non-aviation reader (I.e. you’re not a pilot), but goes into enough detail that you’d be hard-pressed to not learn something. The details that each and every flight are documented, and the special requirements for the scenic Antarctic flights is covered showing the reader the diligence involved.
I loved (as an avgeek) that actual operational details are covered, especially for a Boeing 747-8F flight. This is a comfortable non-technical read that I can’t recommend enough!
Buy here: Boeing 747. Queen of the Skies.: Reflections from the Flight Deck.
Number 2.
Without Precedent. 2nd Edition.: Commando, Fighter Pilot and the true story of Australia’s first Purple Heart
‘Without Precedent’ is the military biography of army commando and fighter pilot, Phillip Zupp. One man who served in two very different wars. During World War Two, he saw combat on the ground in the Pacific before patrolling Hiroshima and Tokyo at the war’s end. In Korea, Phillip flew 201 combat sorties amid intense ground fire and the ever-threatening MiG fighters. Peace brought an aviation career that spanned the globe and the skies above it. All the while, aviation history had overlooked this intriguing story of the search for a downed airman, a damaged jet and the first Australian Purple Heart. Until now.
Buy here: Without Precedent. 2nd Edition.: Commando, Fighter Pilot and the true story of Australia’s first Purple Heart
Number 1.
QF32 - The Captain's Extraordinary Account of How Disaster was Averted
On 4 November 2010, a flight from Singapore to Sydney came within a knife edge of being one of the world's worst air disasters. Shortly after leaving Changi Airport, an explosion shattered Engine 2 of Qantas flight QF32 - an Airbus A380, the largest and most advanced passenger plane ever built. Hundreds of pieces of shrapnel ripped through the wing and fuselage, creating chaos as vital flight systems and back-ups were destroyed or degraded.
In other hands, the plane might have been lost with all 469 people on board, but a supremely experienced flight crew, led by Captain Richard de Crespigny, managed to land the crippled aircraft and safely disembark the passengers after hours of nerve-racking effort.
Tracing Richard's life and career up until that fateful flight, QF32 shows exactly what goes into the making of a top-level airline pilot, and the extraordinary skills and training needed to keep us safe in the air. Fascinating in its detail and vividly compelling in its narrative, QF32 is the riveting, blow-by-blow story of just what happens when things go badly wrong in the air, told by the captain himself.
Winner of ABIA Awards for Best General Non-fiction Book of the Year 2013 and Indie Awards' Best Non-fiction 2012
Buy here: QF32 - The Captain's Extraordinary Account of How Disaster was Averted: From the author of Fly!: Life Lessons from the Cockpit of QF32