Published in 1939, Robert Winston’s book Dive Bomber takes us back to the exciting world of 1930’s US Navy aviation. It starts great — “Eighteen dollars an hour. That’s what they wanted for dual instruction at the flying school on Long Island. I had expected flying lessons to be expensive, but I didn’t think they were going to tear such …
Tag: book
A New TOPGUN Book
I was lucky enough to receive an advance promotional copy of a new book: TOPGUN: An American Story, written by Dan Pedersen, founder of the famed US Navy Fighter Weapons School. It’s a good read. Written with the smooth wisdom of an eighty-three-year-old, who is proud of Navy aviation and his dog-fighting days, but isn’t just writing for wide-eyed and …
Danger and Poetry
“In an environment where everything happens so fast and where mistakes can be fatal, survival ultimately depends on how the pilot chooses to direct and divide his attention. Because of the finite nature of attention, underestimating one’s proficiency at any given task can be just as dangerous as overestimating it. ” It’s the start of December, and I think I’ve …
Go Beyond Happy
Scientifically studying how humans get to be and stay happy is one of modern psychology’s success stories. Positive psychology, with its insights into pleasure and achievement, has benefited millions. But there should be more to life than happy. And this new powerful book, The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters, by Emily Esfahani Smith (2017), is a gateway …
Test Pilot Airmanship
I finally got around to reading a book that’s been sitting in one of the towering piles on my desk for, maybe months? years? A View From The Hover: My Life in Aviation by British test pilot John Farley. I should have read it sooner. It’s great. An engaging tour of a top test pilot’s professional life, with hard-won flying insights …
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
There are loads of self-help books. Boat loads, as they say. Some are good. Most are not. This new book—part self-help, part popular science—won’t help you lose weight or find inner peace; but if you want to learn to fly, or get better at piloting, or be the best pilot in the world in some airplane or mission—this is the …
Standard Checklists
Despite the emergency checklists provided for abnormalities, it’s the standard checklists that you use before you begin your flight that often determine whether you live or come crashing down in a pile of mistakes. Erika Armstrong from her new book ‘A Chick in the Cockpit.’ The book has some good flying stuff in it, but is more about her personal …
What is a Pilot’s Job?
[Mark Vanhoenacker] says his job is not “flying planes”, but “flying planes safely.” Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot is a new book on the magic of flight by a British Airways 747 pilot. It’s out now in the UK, coming to the US in June. Quote from story in New Statesman.
A Very Bad CRM Book
I was so looking forward to The Pilot Factor: A fresh look into Crew Resource Management (2014) by Jean Denis Marcellin. Had heard about it online. Cool cover picture has airline pilot ripping off uniform shirt to show Superman costume underneath. Some glowing reviews on Amazon. Then I got the book and started reading. Oh dear. It’s a self-published stretched padded 100 …