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Day Ten: Books and DVDs for pilots

Some friends and I have been running a series of gift ideas across our blogs. I already proposed a Breitling Navitimer watch and now it’s my turn again. This time, I’d like to suggest some books and a DVD that any pilot will love.

image One Six Right. If you want a single film that captures the joy, romance, history and excitement of flying, this is it. It is a documentary about Van Nuys Airport in LA; but that’s like saying Citizen Kane is a film about a sled. Check out this clip on YouTube.

image Backroom Boys. This is a charming little history of the British boffins who tried to take the UK to the stars on a shoestring and almost succeeded. Read a longer review on my writing site.

Boyd book cover Boyd. The biography of John Boyd, a US fighter pilot who revolutionised aerial warfare, instigated the F16 fighter and inspired the winning strategy of the first Gulf War. Read a longer review.

image Carrying the Fire. Michael Collins’s book is the best of the Apollo astronaut biographies and, I suspect, the only that is not ghost-written. Read a longer review.

image Project Orion. Imagine if you could reach Mars in a few weeks in a 4,000 tonne space cruiser powered by nuclear bombs. This is the history of the nuclear scientists who designed such a craft in the 50s. Read a longer review.

image Absolute Altitude. The story of a British journalist who decided to try to blag his way around the world in the cockpits of different aircraft. Sadly, I don’t think it would be possible today because of 9/11. So it is also a testament to a more innocent era. Read a longer review.

Previous gifts are:

  • Day One: A Cirrus
  • Day Two: Flyabout DVD
  • Day Three: Instrument Coasters
  • Day Four: Breitling Navitimer
  • Day Five: Portable Collision Avoidance System
  • Day Six: Discovery Flight
  • Day Seven: Safer Pilots
  • Day Eight: Instrument Flying Handbook
  • Day Nine: Bose Aviation Headset X

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Patrick Flannigan says

    December 11, 2009 at 10:44

    Great roundup of books there Matthew. Absolute altitude sounds very interesting. You know, you can still hitchhike your way around in a way. Bumming a ride in the right seat is still a great way a lot of would-be professional pilots build their multi-engine time.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Twelve Days of Christmas: An Aviation Gift Guide | AviationChatter.com says:
    December 11, 2009 at 09:21

    […] 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 […]

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Matthew Stibbe
Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, the easy, online way to deal with office paperwork. He has an FAA CPL/IR and an EASA PPL/IR and sometimes flies a Cirrus SR-22. He also writes about wine at Vincarta and being a better manager at Geek Boss.
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