The best
Military Aviation History eBooks:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of Military Aviation History eBooks by number of unique Reddit comments:
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Military Aviation History eBooks:
A few months back I read this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005586WRW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
At one point a small group of Germans surrendered to some Americans, one of the Americans commented that they would be turned over to the Russians, so 3 of the guys in their group risked death to escape. The 4th guy stayed behind because he didn't believe the Americans, and apparently spent the next 10 years in a hard labor camp in Siberia. He chose... poorly.
If you like the F-117, there’s a great book about it’s creation from concept to execution by the father of stealth technology. It’s a lot of interesting history and engineering about Lockheed Martin, their Skunk Works group, and some of the most ambitious aerospace projects of the 20th century.
> Lightning
Amazing plane. The only plane to successfully intercept and SR-71 and a U-2. Short legs, but so much power.
>the government lost its mind and decided to kill British industry.
Indeed. It was heartbreaking reading <em>Empire of the Clouds</em>. So much promise, all thrown away. The Vulcan? British coworker of mine was at an airshow where they were flying that last privately operated Vulcan and a friend of his asked "wow since when has the RAF had that stealth bomber looking plane?" Had to tell him the bad news, that not only was it 50 years old, but it was long gone from service...
I highly recommend reading this book on the Skunk Works. It goes really in depth into how the F117, U2, and SR-71/A-12 programs came about. There are a few short sections in it by people associated with the skunk works, and IIRC Dyson wrote one.
https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed-ebook/dp/B00A2DIW3C
Bomber crews had it especially bad in WWII. If they survived getting shot down and were able to bail out and get a good parachute, then they had to survive the descent without getting shot by German fighters. If they got on the ground alive, then they had to hope to not be captured by the German population who would regularly beat and/or execute them for bombing their country. If they were lucky they were captured by the army and sent to a prison camp (which were not pretty towards the end of the war, by the way).
The really amazing thing is that some chaplains would volunteer to go on bombing missions and intentionally bail out over enemy lines so they could be captured and get sent to the prison camps to be with the POWs. A truly selfless thing to do.
If you're interested in learning more there are plenty of books on Amazon written by B-17 crews over Europe. There's The Wrong Stuff which is an easy read and on Kindle, and also Masters of the Air which is more like an authoritative text book and a fascinating read (also on Kindle).
I've been trying to get back into reading so this is definitely a book i wanna read.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005586WRW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_DCwyFb7ZP2PWN
I believe this is the one you are referring to, correct? Because if so im going to add it right mow
If anyone hasn't read Ben Rich's book Skunk Works they should probably do so. Great book, and it goes in detail on the conception and development of this plane (as well as others!)
I remember them talking about “Sniper on the Eastern Front” during the explosive ammunition tests. Is that it?
Honestly, I never let it bother me. In reality as a special forces guy (O'Neill) and an astrophysicist (Carter), it's very likely that in the real world neither of them would have been a pilot as they quite simply would not have had time to be trained as one plus their main job. Besides which, as I'm reading an F-16 pilot's memoir, fighter pilot slots are actually pretty rare in the Air Force. Granted, this doesn't really jive with the fact that they can actually fly, as we've seen, but either way.
Here's two of my favourite non-fiction books:
Empire of the Clouds by James Hamilton-Paterson. A brilliant, nostalgic and provocative look at the golden age of British aircraft, from the post-war jet age to the recent sad decline. Will get you throwing the book across the room in fury of the stupidity of politicians and businessmen, before you have to pick it up and start reading again.
Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann. His biography, told from the perspective of a pilot in the early days of the American commercial aircraft industry. Literally un-put-down-able.
Flyboys WWII Naval fighter pilots. Insane stories including Japanese ritual cannibalism.
Surprise, Kill, Vanish Book about CIA assassins/operators.
Dune rules
James Ellroy's LA Quartet, detective noir historical fiction
I highly recommend Mark Garrison's Guts 'n Gunships It's a fascinating (and in parts quite humorous) read about Garrison's military career as a combat pilot during the Vietnam war. The book is chock full of terrifying and, quite frankly, insane encounters that will keep the reader totally engrossed.
It's been a while since I read it so I may have gotten some details wrong, but one story which sticks out in my mind is when Garrison's aircraft is shot down and forced to make an emergency landing. His co-pilot, still dazed and disoriented from the crash proceeds to immediately attempt to 'scuttle' their downed helicopter by firing his sidearm into the cockpit radio and console point blank while everyone is still onboard trying to evacuate.
Surprised I haven't seen it here:
Magnum! The Wild Weasels in Desert Storm.
Its not quite on par with Viper Pilot, but I think it's a close second. An excellent narrative of the the transition between the Vietnam and Gulf War (also includes the Gulf War).
Very enlightening stuff, would read before Viper for a better chronological order.
"A Higher Call" by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander
You can find the book on Amazon with the following link, or (As I highly recommend) check out a copy from your local library. It's available as an audiobook as well, if that's more your thing. A good read/listen.
Link is to the Amazon Kindle edition.
Everyone who found this TIL interesting should read the book Viper Pilot. It is truly one of the best and most entertaining books I've ever read. It blows every other military / combat book I've read out of the water. His stories are so epic, I read the book in two sittings...
Everyone who found this TIL interesting should read the book Viper Pilot. It is truly one of the best and most entertaining books I've ever read. It blows every other military / combat book I've read out of the water. His stories are so epic and engaging that I read the book in two sittings...
You should read the Robin Olds biography, huge isn't necessarily better.