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Aviation Books

Just got this from Amazon. It's about this jounalist and plane nut (like us) who decides to trace the Imperial Airways route from London to Australia in 1980-something, by catching hops on all manner of airlines of the day. I just started it, and so far it's pretty entertaining. On the first flight via a British Airways L-1011 from London to Paris, the stew asks him if he wants breakfast, and adds, “we've got yonks in the oven.” I Googled “yonk” but am still wondering what the heck that is... :icon_lol: And look what was in the inside cover. Croydon liberry! I hope they don't find out I have it!

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Moses03 said:
That is a great read P. Lefty got me hooked on it awhile back.
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Definately a good read. This book would be a great addition to the reading list of any college anthropology class out there. The tales he tells of his experiences hopping local airline flights between cities in Egypt are simply amazing. I wonder how much things have changed in 30 years...
 
Finished both these Edwards Park books, Nanette, and Angels Twenty. Well. If you read Nanette first, you must read Angles Twenty immediately after. Nanette is... Well it's an odd book. A very interesting and riveting read, but... strange. It makes more sense after reading Angels-20. The 41st squadron (35th FG) seems to have been left in the back-waters of the war, with old stuff (P-39s) when everyone else had P-38s and P-47s. At times they seem to have been almost forgotten. I can imagine acquiring a bit of an “attitude” at some point under such conditions. I love his descriptions of flying the P-39, and sight seeing over the rugged jungle covered mountains and ravines of New Guinea. Fascinating. He tells, more or less, the same story in both books, which is also interesting. He wrote Nanette first (1977). He wrote Angels-20 twenty years later, in 1997. The later is a more detailed, and more serious telling of the story. One annoying thing is that he states, in both books, that he changed the names of the participants, so they wouldn't get mad and argue about what he said about them. But the characters get different names in each book! So where in Nanette, “Badger” is the old guy, very experienced pilot with no patience for the new guys with little flying time (like Park), the same guy is named “Heming” in Angels-20! For all his seeming cynicism at times, much less visible in Angels-20, his account of meeting Richard Bong is full of respect, even when telling of his frequent “air shows” for the 5th Air Force “mucky-mucks.” Don't know why the publisher put a photo of a TBF on the cover, since the book is about P-39s. But that's not uncommon among dunderheaded publishers. I know a guy who wrote a book about flying F-100s in the Air Force. When it was published it had a photo of an FA-18 on it. Dunderheads. Anyhow, these two books are great reads. Thanks to MM for recommending them!

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Picked this one up on a whim at the local discount book reseller for $10.00, The Saga of Iron Annie. It has turned out to be a fantastic read. I will pass along some of the the stories once I finish it.

Learned some very interesting things about the 'ol Ju-52.

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Yes i have it on my shelf , least currently lent out to a NZFF member , it is filled with artworks and descriptions of the WWII era , a good historical reference from the artists of the time from all combatant country's showing leaflets , propaganda and cartoons , great book .
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sbp said:
A must have : Fate Is The Hunter, by Ernest K. Gann......

sbp.........:salute:
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Fully agree with Fate is The Hunter as a prime recommendation! At the very beginning of the book, Ernie Gann's writing style can be a tiny bit perplexing, but the reader quickly becomes accustomed to it and it's soon a very enjoyable part of his astonishing story-telling abilities.

Taken with its companion book (as I see it), Ernest K. Gann's Flying Circus, the two books essentially tell the story of the aviation side of Gann's near-incredible life.

Among all of the many aviation titles I own or have read, Fate is The Hunter is easily my "desert island" book of immediate choice! I re-read it about every two years, desperately hoping I've forgotten enough of it. Regardless, I'm never disappointed. (Btw: it's been about two years now! Hot damn!)

Fate is The Hunter is available at most book stores. A soft-cover, thick-ish book, I get my copies (gifts for other enthusiasts) at Amazon. His Ernest K Gann's Flying Circus takes some rummaging around in the used-book bazaars online. Try for the hardcover version; it has much better presentation and far better photos.
 
Here are some photos of my copy of 'Fate is the hunter' and some info about its first owner, withthanks to this site: http://www.au.af.mil/au/goe/eagle_bios/1989/asjes_1989.asp

Dirk L. "Dick" Asjes is a most distinguished pioneering aviator from the Netherlands. He was born on 21 July 1911, in Soerabaja, on the island of Java in the Netherlands East Indies. Leaving the East Indies in 1929 to study in the Netherlands, he entered into and received a commission in the Netherlands Army Infantry in 1930. Later transferring to the Netherlands Army Air Force, he received his pilot wings at Soesterberg in 1931. During the 1930s, he served as a military flight instructor, test pilot, international race flyer, and mail flight pioneer.

His 1933 flight in the unique Pander S4, a fast, streamlined, trimotor monoplane from Amsterdam to Batavia, Dutch East Indies, proved the concept of direct airmail routes from Europe to Southeast Asia. Prior to World War II, Asjes entered civilian life with the Royal Dutch Oil Group and was mobilized in the East Indies in 1940 as an instructor in multi-engine bombers. He subsequently conducted bombing missions in the export versions of the Martin B-10 against advancing Japanese forces until ordered to Australia in 1942 to organize a Dutch flying school. The school soon reorganized at Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas, and Asjes was appointed Chief of Primary Training. Later, he served as Chief, Operational Training, at the Dutch Military Flying School in Jackson, Mississippi.

In December 1943, he led 17 B-25 Mitchells from Mississippi to Australia. In early 1944, he was appointed Operations Officer and later Commander of an all-Dutch B-25 squadron. Operating from Darwin, Australia, he flew 47 combat missions in B-25s against the Japanese. At war's end, he was Chief of the POW and Civilian Internees Recovery for the Netherlands East Indies. In April 1946, Asjes returned to the Netherlands to help organize his nation's new air force. He reentered civilian life and the reserve forces in December 1946. Serving in various positions with the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Group in Venezuela and Trinidad, he rose to Board of Directors of the Company in 1955 and to President and General Director of the Mexican Eagle Oil Company from 1958 to 1965.

He returned to the Netherlands in September 1965 where he held various distinguished military, civil, and government positions. General Asjes has accumulated 19,000 flying hours in 160 different types of aircraft over 52 years of active flying. Among his many military decorations, Asjes received his nation's highest award for valor--the Knight Militare Willemsorder.
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Asjes died in 1997 in The Hague, but in 186 he donated his library to the 'NBLR' (National library for aviation and space) which was connected to the old Aviodome museum at Schiphol airport. When the Aviodome moved to Lelystad to become the Aviodrome, the library moved too and recently the decision was made to sell all books with more than one copy in the collection, and that's when I bought it.

There's no jacket, just a simple blue cover with the author's signature on it. The book was printed in 1961, at the time Asjes was living and working in Mexico, and on the inside there's a stamp with his adress at the time. To the left is the adress (In white) of the Aviodome, the other white box reads "Donated to the NBLR by D.L. Asjes, March 1986 and the stamp at the bottom confirms it was removed from the Aviodrome library.

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Great buy for only 20 euro's, and I still have to start reading it!

BTW You mystery aircraft hunters will probably knw the man that sold me the book :Nico Braas.
He is an author himself, and has quite a collection of photos: http://www.1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Braas/Braas.htm
 
Three new additions arrived this week; the first is the latest part of the 'Dutch profile' series, dealing with the Douglas DB-8A/3N in Dutch service. Some personal interest there, as a brother of an old family friend was killed on the day of the German invasion, flying as the observer on the '385'. Odd choice to use those DB-8's as fighters...
Only 58 pages but lots of good photos and colour profiles. Text in English and Dutch. More information here: http://www.dutchprofile.nl/
Already have the parts about the Fokkers D.21 and T.5 and hope to get a few more!

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Second addition is the book 'Luchtvaart 2012' (Aviation 2012), the annual review of aviation news from last year. Over 200 pages and it includes a full Dutch registry. This series is as old as I am, starting in 1976. I used to borrow these all the time from the local library when I was a kid, and have bought every one since 2004.


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Third is not really a book, but the latest issue of Aeroplane monthly. Not easy to find in book stores unfortunately! The 'Sabre vs. MiG-15' cover story was of particular interest since I added both aircraft to FsX last month.
 
Ferry_vO said:
Here are some photos of my copy of 'Fate is the hunter' and some info about its first owner, withthanks to this Great buy for only 20 euro's, and I still have to start reading it!
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Start reading Ferry, it has some great DC2 stuff in it as well.
 
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