Hard Landing (the book)

[DIAMONDDD]

I just read "Fate is the Hunter" this past week. I loved it! Made me feel a little inadequate as a pilot, though. The stuff those guys went through! I hear that was his best book and the others he wrote weren't as interesting. I just picked up "North Star Over my Shoulder" but haven't started it yet. By the way, in "Fate is the Hunter", he dies in a farming accident at the end.

 

[Pilotadjuster]

Fate is the Hunter

Oh great! Im about 1/4 through and now I know how it ends!

--was he using a DC2 to plow the field...?

Great book as well!

 

[DIAMONDDD]

--was he using a DC2 to plow the field...?

No, he had just started milking a cow. It turned out, it wasn't a cow but a Stud horse and he got kicked in the head!

 

[enigma]

Hard Landing

Hard Landing almost reads like a novel. It's very readable.

It's been awhile since I read it, but I seem to remember that the facts were documented, and those facts certainly are contrary to the perceptions that many of us have/had about our business.

For myself, what I took from it was a sense of perspective about the "forest" that existed at the time the book deals with. I believe that most of us tend to focus on the "trees", instead of the entire environment that existed at the time. Essentially, our industry was thrown to the wolves by a bunch of politicians who were looking for an "issue" that they could push and reap some publicity for themselves. Deregulation was dropped into the laps of the airlines with no regard for the problems of it's implementation; and Hard Landings does a good job of detailing the situation.

Next. My list of Pilot Must Reads
1. Island In The Sky by Ernest K Gann
2. any book by Ernest K Gann
3. The Pilots Burden By Robert Buck
4. Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langesw.....(cant spell it,
sorry)

regards

 

[BoDEAN]

Is this book mainly for corporate pilot's or people pursuing career in that aspect (opposed to commerical bound?)

 

[Sean]

Fate is the Hunter

By the way, in "Fate is the Hunter", he dies in a farming accident at the end...funny I just got done reading the book. Great book. Fate is the hunter & ChickenHawk are my (2) Favorites.

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Loved reading Fate is the Hunter, particularly his story about clearing the Taj Mahal by only a couple feet in high density altitude conditions during WWII.

Also would recommed "On a Wing and a Prayer". I can't remember the author's name. He was a navigator for the 100th BG in WWII out of England. Some really incredible stories about their missions and life in England at that time. Their pilots brought their B-17 back from a mission with by actual count, 1200 holes in the plane. Mind-boggling.


Mr. I.

 

[bobbysamd]

Stick & Rudder

Yes, absolutely, Wolfgang Langewiesche's book, ISBN: 0070362408, is a "must read" for any pilot. It explains aerodynamics in English and is a classic.